


Pulling Pigtails

by Jcapasso916



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-06-10 08:42:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 31,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6948451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jcapasso916/pseuds/Jcapasso916
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the mystery spot, and multiple failed apologies to Sam, Gabriel gives up and sets out to annoy Sam to death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Sam and Dean were on their way out of Florida and as far away from the Mystery Spot as they could get when the music on the radio suddenly changed. As the first words of Heat of the Moment blared from the speakers, Sam slammed his hand into the radio to change the station, ignoring Dean’s protests about the rough handling. The next station played the same song, and the next, and the next. In fact, every time he changed the station the song started over. “I never meant to be so bad to you…” click. “I never meant to be so bad to you…” click. “I never meant to be so bad to you…” Sam finally gave up and turned the radio off completely. “I never meant to be so bad to you…” Sam growled at the radio as if it had personally offended him. He knew it wasn’t the radio’s fault. He knew exactly who was to blame for this. 

Sam decided to try something different and grabbed one of Dean’s god-awful hair band tapes and popped it in. Even that would be better than this torture. “I never meant to be so bad to you…” Sam let out a frustrated scream. Dean was getting rather annoyed too. He didn’t have anything personally against the song like Sam did, but the constant starting over was driving him crazy. “Maybe if you just listen to the damn thing it’ll stop,” he snapped. 

Sam huffed and took the tape out, followed by a sigh as that started the song over again. “I never meant to be so bad to you,” Sam actually listened to the lyrics this time and scoffed as the idea popped into his head that the trickster might be trying to apologize. “One thing I said that I would never do.” Sam rolled his eyes. Why wouldn’t the trickster be an asshole? “One look from you and I would fall from grace. And that would wipe the smile right from my face.” Sam crossed his arms and said aloud, “Ok fine. So you’re sorry. Apology not accepted!” Apparently all the cruel demi-god had wanted was an acknowledgment of the apology because blessedly the music stopped after that. 

Dean gave an almost amused harrumph. “So did he turn it off because you figured it out or because he didn’t want you to think he was sorry?” 

“I don’t know and I don’t care. As long as he turned it off,” Sam said annoyed. The remainder of the trip passed in blessed silence. It was a few more day before the radio started going crazy again. “I never meant to be so bad to you. One thing I said that I would never do. One look from you and I would fall from grace…” Sam had tried to cover his ears as soon as it started and gave a hard tug on his hair when that didn’t work before he yelled over the music. “If you really are trying to apologize that’s the wrong damn song to use, you asshole!” Just like last time the music thankfully stopped. 

The next day as they were driving down the road, their classic rock station started playing Evanescence and Dean curled his nose and went to change the station only for the song to start back over. Sam groaned. He just wouldn’t give up. Why the hell was he even bothering? At least it wasn’t that god-awful song again. He could live with this one. He would listen to it, reject the apology, and maybe the trickster would finally get it this time. There was no apology that could ever be accepted for what he’d done. It was unforgivable in the worse way. “Can you forgive me again? I don’t know what I said but I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Sam snorted. He knew exactly what he’d done. “I heard the words come out, I felt that I would die, it hurt so much to hurt you.” Sam narrowed his eyes at the radio. Yeah right. Like he even cared. “Then you look at me. You’re not shouting anymore. You’re silently broken.” Sam clenched his jaw. That reminded him far too much of their final confrontation before he brought Dean back and he couldn’t stand the reminder of how vulnerable he had let himself be in front of the monster. “I’d give anything now to kill those words for you.”

“Are we really gonna sit here and listen to the whole damn thing?” Dean asked, annoyed that his brother wasn’t just yelling at the trickster to stop again. It had worked the last few times after all. 

“Maybe if I listen to the whole song he’ll stop doing this. It can’t hurt to try,” Sam said with a shrug. 

He had missed a couple lines, but tuned back in for, “Cause you were made for me. Somehow I’ll make you see how happy you make me.” Sam snorted derisively. He supposed it was rather difficult to find a song that said sorry I killed your brother a thousand times, so the trickster had to work with what he had. “I can’t live this life without you by my side. I need you to survive.” Sam rolled his eyes. Yeah okay. This was just getting more and more ridiculous. “So stay with me. You look in my eyes and I’m screaming inside that I’m sorry.” He should be sorry. “And you forgive me again. You’re my one true friend and I never meant to hurt you.” 

“Oh thank god it’s over,” Dean sighed with relief. 

Sam was sure that there was an invisible presence waiting for a response. “I hear you, but tough shit. Some things are unforgivable so give it up,” he snapped. The radio went back to its normal station and both Winchesters could only hope that was the end of this bullshit. 

 

Back in his house, the archangel in hiding threw a lamp at the wall and cursed. Fine. If he wanted to be that way, Gabriel was done apologizing. He tried to teach the stubborn little brat a lesson. He’d tried to save the world, but the stupid hunter just wouldn’t listen. Sam would never know how much it destroyed Gabriel every time he saw that look of horror and pain on the hunter’s face. He would never know how Gabriel broke inside along with him after Dean’s last death. He would never know how much it had damaged Gabriel’s own grace to cause so much trauma to his soulmate. He still tried though. He tried until he couldn’t take anymore; until his own pain threatened to drown him. The only thing he’d done wrong was being too weak to keep going until Sam had learned. 

The hunter would pay for that. For every ounce of pain that Gabriel had endured on his behalf, because of his stubborn refusal to open his eyes. He would make sure that Sam paid. He didn’t have it in him to hurt his soulmate any more than he’d already had to, but he could and would annoy the holy hell out of him. Maybe Gabriel could at least get some amusement out of it. Something to counteract the gaping emptiness he’d felt since that first heartbroken expression had crossed the hunter’s face that first time his brother had been shot.


	2. Chapter 2

A few days later, Sam and Dean found themselves locked up in a police station while a horde of demons assembled outside. Gabriel watched nervously to see how they were going to get out of this one. He knew the demons wouldn’t kill them, but he didn’t want to know what they would do if the Winchesters were caught. Not to mention everyone in the building would likely be slaughtered. Other than the hunters there were only two he really cared about. The FBI agent and the secretary. They both had bright innocent souls. The other two cops were the kind of jerks he’d dish out some just desserts to, not that he would go as far as killing them. Neither were that bad, but he wouldn’t go to any trouble to save them either. Hell he wasn’t going to go to any trouble to save anyone unless he could do it without broadcasting himself. It was a lot harder to hide what he really was from demons than it was to hide from humans and other monsters. Demons, by necessity, had learned to spot an angel a mile away over the millennia they had been at war. 

Gabriel bit back his snarl as Lilith’s little bitch arrived on the scene. When Sam tried to break the seal to let her out, Gabriel snapped his fingers and made it permanent. It couldn’t be scratched away. The only way to let her out was to break the concrete floor. “Come on damnit. Let me out already,” she snapped thinking that Sam was stalling. 

“I’m trying. What the hell did you use to make this thing?” he asked Dean. 

“Same as the rest. It should come right up,” Dean said confused. 

“Well it’s not,” Sam said pointedly. 

“Move,” Dean sighed pushing Sam out of the way with a roll of his eyes. He soon found that he couldn’t remove it either. “What the hell?” He ran to one of the others and tried it and it came up easily. Not only had he used the same paint, but from the same can as well. There was no way the one holding Ruby should be so stubborn. “Sorry. Looks like you’re stuck until we figure something out, and we sorta have bigger fish to fry at the moment, so just hand over the knife and we’ll come back for you,” Dean told her, not feeling particularly sorry for her.

“Like hell. You better find a way to get me the fuck out of here if you want my help,” she said heatedly. 

“Like you’re actually going to help,” Dean scoffed. “Like you can help. How many are even out there?”

“Thirty. At least. And that’s just so far.”

“Great. Just great. Like one of you is going to be that big of a help. Who sent them?” 

“You didn’t tell him?” Ruby looked at Sam. 

“Tell me what?” Dean asked suspiciously. 

“There’s a new sheriff in town and she really really wants Sam’s intestines on a stick,” Ruby said delighting in the fact that she had a chance to drive a wedge between them. 

“And you didn’t think to tell me this?” Dean asked Sam frustrated. 

“What’s to tell? So there are demons after us. What else is new?” he asked. 

Dean narrowed his eyes suspiciously, not sure if there was more to Sam’s silence than that, but decided to let it go for now. They could argue if they made it out of this alive. 

“So please tell me you have the colt on you?” she asked. She hated the thought of riding this out in a devil’s trap, but at least she could have some assurance that she would survive too if they had the colt. 

“Yeah…no. It…um…got stolen,” Sam said sheepishly. 

Ruby started cursing and pacing in the small amount of space she had. She had to come up with a plan. She would offer a spell. One that would kill her too, though they would never let her do it, but it might buy her some goodwill. Maybe a bit of trust even. Then if they really were just pretending they couldn’t let her out, maybe they would actually let her get the hell out of here before she ended up dead. She pitched the idea only to get an appalled look from Dean, and a thoughtful one from Sam. 

Gabriel watched all this stoically, until he saw the thoughtful look on Sam’s face and he felt a clenching feeling in his gut. He hadn’t realized that Sam was already that far gone. He couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that Sam would even consider such dark magic even for a moment. Oh Gabriel knew there was no danger of him actually doing it. The demon would never sacrifice her own life. She was banking on them saying no, but the idea that Sam might not fanned his rage at her all over again and he couldn’t help snapping his fingers and pulling the knife from her belt and running it through her heart. 

Sam yelled out in horror and rushed forward to catch her as she fell. “What the hell was that?!” 

“I don’t know!” Dean said alarmed as he looked around the room for threats. “The demons outside couldn’t have used their powers through the salt lines, not to mention they couldn’t see her to aim,” he said eyeing everyone in the room suspiciously. They were all still wearing their necklaces but all it would have taken was taking it off for a minute or two. He surreptitiously reached into his jacket and pulled his flask of holy water and splashed everyone at once, but no one sizzled. “Ok so we’re all clear, but there must be one in here somewhere.”

“Wait. That doesn’t make sense,” Sam said. “They shouldn’t have been able to use their powers through a devil’s trap either.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “You’re right. And if the trap were broken she would have walked out of it.”

Sam bent down as if to inspect the trap, but quickly grabbed the knife and scraped some of it away. “It’s coming off now,” he said carefully as he began to get a suspicion. It didn’t make any sense but it was the only explanation. “I know you’re here trickster. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” 

Gabriel, now that there were no demons nearby, decided to vent some of his anger on the object of it. “What am I doing? Are you serious? You were actually considering letting that monstrosity rip an innocent girl’s heart out of her chest and you ask what I’m doing?” 

“I was considering any option that might get us out of here alive,” Sam said heatedly. 

Dean did his best to ignore the fact that he actually agreed with the trickster for once and took a different approach. “If you’re gonna be here you can at least help us, or are you here to make sure we get killed?” 

Gabriel laughed. “You expect me to put my neck on the line to save a couple morons who’ve tried to kill me more than once?”

“Then why are you here?” Sam asked suspiciously. He didn’t think the being wanted them dead. He’d had plenty of opportunities in the past to kill them after all. 

“I was just checking in on my favorite toys when I found this mess,” Gabriel said. He didn’t want any more questions along those lines though so he decided to throw them a bone, just this once. “Fine. Here,” he said snapping his fingers and making the colt, along with a whole box of bullets for it, appear on the desk. Between that and the knife you should be able to manage. That’s all the help you’re getting from me.”

Before either of them could respond, the trickster had disappeared. “What the hell was that?” Henrickson asked with a much higher pitch than he would ever admit to. 

“That was a trickster. A demi-god with a ‘killer’ sense of humor,” Dean said distastefully.

“One that apparently enjoys playing with us,” Sam said as annoyed as he could manage at the being that had basically just saved their asses. Sam grabbed up the colt before Dean could get it and Dean just sighed and took the knife from Ruby’s chest. 

“We only use them if we have to,” Dean said pointedly. “Or on the ones where the meatsuit is already dead,” he added. After the way Sam seemed so willing to sacrifice that innocent girl, he wasn’t taking any chances. 

“Of course,” Sam said surprised that Dean would even think he needed to say that. “But what are our other options?” 

Only the fact that he had asked genuinely instead of as an argument kept Dean from snapping at him. “Does this place have a PA?” he asked as an idea struck him. 

They got everything set up and then opened the doors and let the demons in. Once they were all inside, Sam heard the recorded exorcism start up and cursed. He could tell they weren’t done salting the doors yet and thankfully the demon running for the door was one of those that was already dead and Sam put one of the colt’s bullets through its head only to find that the trickster wasn’t without his tricks. Oh the gun worked. The demon died. There was a blowback of a heavy glitter cloud that coated Sam in the process though. His following curses were only partly due to the pack of demons descending on him. 

He was forced to use the gun a few more times as he was getting swarmed too fast to reload his shotgun. He was mostly able to keep it to those who were obviously already dead, but there was one that he hadn’t been sure about that he’d had to kill. He was just taking aim on another when Dean and Henrickson came skidding around the corner and Dean put a blast of salt in the demon’s back and Sam had a little breathing room and quickly reloaded his shotgun just in time to take down two more before the exorcism finished and there was a pile of unconscious bodies on the floor. 

Sam sighed with relief and leaned back against the wall that he had been backed up to. Before he could get too relaxed though, Dean burst into hysterical laughter and Sam remembered the trick with the gun and sighed in annoyance. 

“Dude. You look like my little pony just puked on you,” he choked out through his guffaws. 

“Yeah. Well. Thank the trickster. At least the damn thing worked.” 

Henrickson pulled Dean back to the present by reminding him that there was still a lot of cleanup to do and they had to get out of there before he had to call the FBI back in. He assured the Winchesters that they would be dead…again…and thus free from pursuit. Dean handed the FBI agent his emergency number just in case. 

On the way out they checked in with Nancy and the deputy outside to make sure that none of the demons escaped to go running back to Lilith and they were assured that all of them were gone so Sam and Dean headed back to their motel. Sam desperately needed a shower. It would take days to get all the glitter out of his hair.


	3. Chapter 3

When they made it back to the motel, Sam wasted no time jumping in the shower, only to find that there was no hot water. He cursed a blue streak and settled for a quick rinse, trying to get all the glitter he could off of him as fast as possible before he jumped out of the icy water. He was fuming when Dean went in after him and took a long hot shower. “I swear to god, you asshole, if you don’t let me take a hot shower than I will hunt you down and put a stake through your damn heart.” Sam did not have the patience for this bullshit today. He was still trying to get over the whole Mystery Spot incident, then all the mess today, the trickster killing Ruby in cold blood. Sure, she was a demon, but she was the only demon that seemed the least bit interested in helping them and Sam was sure they would end up needing her help again in the future, but now she wouldn’t be there thanks to the damn trickster. Then the whole glitter thing, and the icy shower was just the last straw. 

Sam went back in the bathroom and managed to take a lukewarm shower after Dean had used most of the real hot water, but it was better than nothing and it worked well to calm him down. He was actually calm enough to realize that the trickster might actually be mad at him when he pulled back his blanket to find a nest of snakes in his bed, and the mom struck at him almost immediately. They weren’t poisonous thankfully, not that she got close to biting him what with his hunter reflexes. At least the trickster wasn’t pissed enough to actually want to hurt him. Dean helped him get the snakes outside and Sam checked the entire bed for any more surprises before he climbed in and actually thought for a minute about what the trickster had said earlier. He had seemed really upset that Sam hadn’t immediately shot down Ruby’s spell idea and it took a little while before it dawned on him that maybe the trickster was protective of her because she was a virgin. He knew how much the pagans valued virgins, mostly for sacrifice, but he didn’t really get that kind of vibe from the annoying little man. That was as good an explanation as any as to why he had been so angry about it. 

The next morning, Dean went for breakfast, and instead of Sam’s omelet that he asked for, he had pancakes. Sam snapped at Dean for getting the order wrong and just left it alone. He realized something was off when he went for lunch himself, ordered a salad and got back to the motel and opened the bag to find it full of burgers and fries and no salad in sight. “This isn’t funny,” he said frustrated to the empty room. 

“What’s wrong Samsquatch. Worried about ruining your figure?” the trickster asked smugly from where he appeared leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Far from arm or stake reach just in case. 

“No. I just like to eat healthy. Why won’t you just leave me alone?” he asked defeated. He’d realized that there was no way that he would be able to kill the trickster. The wily little being would never let him get close enough. 

“Because I don’t want to,” Gabriel said matter-of-factly. 

“Why me?” Sam asked despondently. 

“Why not you?” he asked as he winked and disappeared just as Dean came out of the bathroom. 

“Who are you talking to?” Dean asked curiously. 

“Stupid trickster’s been messing up my food,” Sam said petulantly. 

“I told you I ordered right,” Dean said pointedly as he grabbed a burger and sat down to eat. As far as he was concerned, the trickster was just being annoying right now, and he had saved their bacon with the colt after all. As long as he wasn’t dropping bodies or putting them in danger, he wasn’t going to make a fuss. It wasn’t like they could hurt him anyway. Dean ignored the fact that it was easy for him to say since he wasn’t the one being targeted. 

Gabriel decided to give Sam a break for a few days. Too much of a good thing after all. Let the hunter relax and get complacent again. Right now he was looking over his shoulder for tricks at every turn. It was no fun to get him when he was expecting it. He watched on in amusement as the brother’s stumbled across the crummy reality show and the moronic producers. That was hilarious. He caught Sam looking at them funny from time to time and could tell that the younger hunter was wondering if he had been behind this meeting. The fact that it wasn’t of his doing didn’t make it any less amusing, even if he did have to insert a little unseen help at one point when Sam was almost killed. Sam’s muttered ‘thanks’ afterwards made Gabriel wonder if Sam had known who was behind it, but he decided he didn’t really care. 

Once Sam and Dean made it back to their motel room, Sam’s bed was suddenly bedecked in a lurid pink bedspread and pillow cases, causing Dean to laugh. “At least it’s not snakes,” Sam grumbled. He was way too tired to get pissed at the moment. When he woke up the next morning, to the sound of Dean, once again, laughing hysterically, and found that his hair was in curlers and he had pink fuzzy slippers on his feet, he was rested enough to get annoyed. “What the hell is your problem?!” he yelled. 

“You look so sweet in pink,” Gabriel said appearing, as usual, on the other side of the room leaning against the wall. Sam lunged at him, hands outstretched, just wanting to get his hands around that skinny little neck. Gabriel laughed and reappeared on another wall, far from both brothers. “You’re so cute when you’re angry.” Sam lunged at him again, only to meet nothing but air once more, as the trickster was now back in his original position. “Tag isn’t my favorite game, but at least you’re playing with me,” he said amused. 

Sam closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and counted to ten, before he visibly deflated. “Apparently Dean thinks all this is funny. Why don’t you pick on him for a change?” Sam suggested hopefully. 

Dean went silent mid-laugh as he heard what Sam said. “Oh no. I don’t think so. You’re the one he’s after. Don’t be dragging me into it.”

“You’re more fun anyway,” Gabriel said snapping his fingers and disappearing in a wave of confetti, most of which landed on Sam. The hunter gave a weary sigh and set to work on getting the curlers out of his hair and kicking the slippers off of his feet. It took him a good half hour to manage to get all the tiny little curlers out and he scowled at his reflection in the mirror. He looked ridiculous. He took a long shower and managed to brush the majority of the curls out of his hair, though it still looked a little bushy. 

By the time Dean got back with Sam’s breakfast, the correct one this time, he could see that his brother was calm enough for what he was going to say. “You realize that getting worked up like that just makes it more fun for him right?” He only got a bitchface in response so he dropped it.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam was, mercifully, left alone for a few days until he woke up one morning and stumbled to the bathroom to find that his hair was purple. He gripped the sink so tightly that he was surprised that it didn’t crack, while he closed his eyes and counted to ten. He opened them again and saw the purple hair and then had to repeat the process. This time he turned away from the mirror before he opened his eyes again, and just jumped in the shower. Despite not seeming to, he heard what Dean had said and he was going to stop getting all upset if it killed him. He really hoped that the trickster got bored with him soon. He spent his time in the shower considering how to bribe his brother to go buy him a hat. 

The next morning, Gabriel played another trick on the hunter. He had been watching Sam when he woke up and saw his reaction to the hair. He knew what Sam was trying to do and Gabriel had no intention of getting bored and giving up. This particular trick he didn’t quite think all the way through. He had put a portrait of himself on Sam’s chest and stomach using caramel, butterscotch and chocolate sauces. As he watched and waited for the hunter to wake up, all he could think about was licking it off, which led to wondering what it would taste like mingled with the taste of Sam’s skin, which led to wondering what Sam tasted like, which led to his pants being very uncomfortable and him feeling like a creeper. 

Dean woke first this time and stumbled out of bed, glancing at his brother as he made his way to the bathroom. He didn’t make it there though as his jaw dropped in shock. His first thought was that it was some very good artwork. His second though was the fact that his brother had been tagged and he scrambled for his phone to take a picture before he couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore. The clicking of the picture woke Sam up just before Dean’s laughter took hold of him. 

Sam immediately felt the sticky on his chest and stomach and his hand rubbed at it instinctively. “Aww. Now you messed it up. It was a really good likeness too,” Dean laughed. 

“Do I want to know?” Sam asked wearily. 

“The trickster,” Dean said with a grin. “Here. Take a look.”

“No. And delete that damn picture,” Sam said annoyed as he looked at his messy hand. He could smell the sweet coming off of it and tentatively darted out his tongue to taste it and then groaned. “It had to be candy syrups. That stuff is going to be hell to clean off.”

Dean’s laughter hit a new pitch. “I can’t…believe…he wasted…the candy,” Dean gasped out. 

“Yeah. Well. Jokes on him. All this nice candy is going down the drain,” Sam said smugly. “You hear that? All of it is going to waste,” he said to the room as a whole. 

Gabriel didn’t care. He could just snap up more candy anytime he wanted to. All he cared about was the fact that he wasn’t going to get to lick it off himself. Apparently Dean had the same idea, albeit not as seriously as Gabriel did. “Maybe…he was…hoping…you would…let him…lick it off,” Dean laughed even harder. 

“Oh god. Don’t even joke about that,” Sam made a gagging sound as he headed for the shower. 

That sobered Gabriel’s mood quickly. He didn’t expect any less, but actually hearing it hurt more than he wanted to admit. He disappeared back to his house and sulked for a little while. He would take a break for a few days. And no more jokes that could hurt him just as badly. 

 

By the time Gabriel had hooked back up with them, unseen of course, they were on another hunt. This one a crocotta. Gabriel could tell they had no idea what they were dealing with and he could see them getting their hopes up about getting out of Dean’s deal once he started getting calls from his father. Sam was putting on a good show about being skeptical, but Gabriel knew Sam, inside and out. He could see the spark of hope burning in him. He didn’t know if he could stand seeing Sam as heartbroken as he would be when this all came crashing down so he waited until Sam went to the library to do some research and he planted a book about crocotta on the shelf he was looking on. 

Even with that evidence, Dean refused to believe it. Or more like, he felt that there was still a chance, however slim, that Sam was wrong and he had to try. While Dean was going to confront the ‘demon’ Sam went after the crocotta…alone. Once Sam was tied up Gabriel couldn’t help what he did next. He found Dean racing to Sam, having figured out what was going on and he snapped his fingers transporting Dean, car and all, to the parking lot outside where Sam was and went back to watch Sam. He was fully prepared to step in if need be, but if Dean could take care of it, all the better. It was bad enough that Dean would know of his involvement, and likely tell Sam, but coming out and showing himself and killing something to save the hunter would be going too far. It would show just how invested he was in Sam’s well-being, and could be used against him in the future. He hadn’t made it as far as he did by giving people ammunition to hold over his head. 

Gabriel didn’t make a habit of spying on them unless they were on a hunt in danger, or he was waiting for a trick to go off, so he missed the conversation they had in the car on the way back to the motel. “You owe the trickster a thank you by the way,” Dean told Sam. Now that the demi-god wasn’t dropping bodies and was containing himself to minor pranks against Sam, that gave Dean a whole lot of amusement, not to mention bailing them out from time to time, he was almost starting to warm up to the guy. He had no intention of befriending a monster or anything, but he didn’t exactly hate him. Other than the two deaths at the college the first time they met, the only thing he could hold against him was killing him a thousand times, but Dean couldn’t remember any of that. He didn’t remember being dead, but he knew that Sam did and that it still haunted him, which is why Dean always treated this subject like glass. 

“Why’s that?” Sam said testily. 

“I was a good fifteen minutes away from you when suddenly I was in the parking lot outside, car and all.”

“And you think the trickster did it? Why would he care if I died?” Sam said annoyed. 

“Who else could have done it? And think about it. He’s had how many opportunities to kill us himself, not to mention, gave us the colt…”

“Rigged with glitter,” Sam interrupted him to point out. 

Dean ignored him and kept going. “and you said you thought he stopped that thing with the whole ghostfacers fiasco, and now this? Obviously he doesn’t want you dead.”

“No, because if I’m dead he has no one to drive insane anymore,” Sam snapped. Dean just shrugged and dropped it. “Maybe he just wanted you to see what the results of your refusing to listen were and get an idea of how bad things could have gone?” Ouch. Dean could admit that he probably deserved that one. “Or maybe he just wants us to owe him one.”

“Okay. I get it. He’s a cruel heartless bastard who doesn’t give a crap about anyone. I hear ya,” Dean said in surrender. He wasn’t sure how much he believed that, but if it got Sam out of his bitch fit he would say whatever was necessary. And when Dean got back to the motel and had to do some heavy exterminating on the spiders in his bed while Sam took a shower, he didn’t say a word to Sam, but he did give a quick, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to him,” to the room, hoping that would spare him any more of the demi-god’s displays of displeasure.


	5. Chapter 5

Gabriel’s next trick got both of them. He figured it was as good a time as any to spring this one that had been in his mind for a while. This way Dean would think he was still pissed at him. He had been pleasantly surprised when Dean actually apologized, but at the same time unsettled that he had apparently been so transparent to the hunter. He would have to be more careful. 

Sam stretched and rolled over only to yelp as he was suddenly underwater. His yelp had woken Dean who quickly found himself in the same position. They both surfaced sputtering and looked around to see the entire motel room filled with water and only a few feet free near the ceiling for them to breathe. “Damnit trickster!” Sam yelled heatedly. Only Dean noticed at first that their bags with all their stuff were on top of the floating mattresses so nothing was ruined and they would have dry clothes to put on if they ever managed to get somewhere dry. 

Gabriel appeared sitting crosslegged on Sam’s bed with an amused grin on his face. “Nice morning for a swim isn’t it.”

“Get rid of the damn water, and I swear if any of our stuff is messed up I’ll kill you,” Sam said heatedly. 

“What is it with you and killing me? Is a little water really an executable offense to you?” Gabriel said mock-appalled. 

“He did save our stuff,” Dean said in defense of the trickster and pointed to the bags on the beds. It wasn’t so much that he wanted to defend the thing as it was that he wanted this to end and if Sam kept it up he’d be more likely to leave them like this. 

“You’re a monster. Killing you is our job,” Sam snapped. 

Gabriel ignored the way that statement sent an icy pain through his chest and just gave a smug smirk. “Well you’re obviously not very good at it,” he teased. 

“Yeah well motivation helps and you’re giving me plenty of motivation,” Sam said frustrated. Ever since the trickster had started being such a nuisance, he’d taken to keeping stakes handy, but they were in the bag and under his pillow, neither of which were in reach at the moment, or ever when he actually showed his face. Sam was even considering getting a damn crossbow to shoot one at him since he never got close enough. 

Dean could tell this was going to go on forever so he decided to do something about it. He dove under the water and swam for the door. If he opened the door one of two things would happen, either the water would disappear due to the trickster not wanting to draw too much attention, or the water would spill out the door. Either way fixed the problem, even if one did have him doing a lot of explaining. He was just glad that the door opened out instead of in. 

Sure enough as soon as the door opened, all the water disappeared along with the trickster, disappointed that Dean had figured out the key so quickly and both brothers fell to the floor of the now miraculously completely dry room. They were still soaked though, but at least the rest of their clothes were dry. 

Once they were changed and on the road again, heading for a zombie hunt that Sam secretly hoped was more than that, Sam was finally calmed down a bit. “You know, you’re usually the level-headed one around here but lately you’ve had temper like a tsunami,” Dean observed. 

“Gee I wonder why. Not only are we no closer to getting you out of your deal, but the same thing that tortured me for nearly a year in a time loop seems to get his jollies by trying to drive me completely insane,” Sam snapped. 

“I’m just saying, it wouldn’t kill you to chill.” Sam just huffed and crossed his arms staring silently out the window for the remainder of the trip. 

Gabriel watched the remainder of the hunt, sticking with Sam when they split up and just got steadily angrier. Sam really had learned nothing. He was actually considering subjecting his brother to that kind of life. Even as angry as he was, he still got nervous when Sam was strapped to the table, and after checking and noticing that Dean was close, he was able keep himself from interfering. He almost lost his resolve though as the crazy alchemist was close to removing the hunter’s eye, but Dean made it in and saved him just in time. Gabriel smirked as they had the idea to bury him alive locked in a fridge. It was genius, if worryingly ruthless. Sam had tried to pocket the book before Dean had taken it from him. At least one of them had some sense. 

That night when Sam went to bed, Gabriel doused him in itching powder. The fact that he had been willing to create a monster, to do such unspeakable things, had him being a little harsher with the hunter than he usually was. His glee at the prank had faded by lunchtime when Sam had broken out in a painful rash and was covered in welts and even deep gouges from the intense scratching. He hadn’t realized that the hunter would react so badly to a little itching powder. 

Once Sam was asleep, Gabriel crept over to the bed and placed his hand on Sam’s forehead, healing him from the rash and bruises and welts. He hadn’t realized that Sam was just pretending to be asleep until he felt a strong hand clamp around his wrist and a stake go through his heart. Sam was definitely fast and he had felt guilty enough that he’d let his guard drop a little too much. Gabriel stumbled backwards until his back hit the wall, eyes full of betrayal and pain as Sam sat up with a smug expression until it turned confused. 

“Did you just…heal me?” Sam asked astonished. He wasn’t itching or in pain anymore. That had been why he hadn’t been asleep in the first place after all. Dean was woken by the commotion and sat up in time to hear Sam’s question and see the trickster sliding down the wall with a stake in his chest. 

The stake wouldn’t kill Gabriel of course, but there was a reason he had left an illusion to take the one in the auditorium. He had taken enough pagan into him that the stake hurt like a bitch and would weaken him for a time. By the time his butt hit the floor he’d managed to grab the end of the stake and pull it out of his chest and disappear, leaving the piece of wood sitting on the floor. 

“So he healed you and you staked him?” Dean asked. 

“Are you forgetting that he’s the reason I needed to be healed in the first place? Not to mention killing him is kind of our job in case you’ve forgotten,” Sam said more testily than he should have. He was trying to convince himself that he was in the right just as much as he was trying to convince Dean. He hated the small pool of guilt welling up inside him. 

“He probably didn’t know you were allergic to itching powder,” Dean pointed out. 

“And that makes it better?” Sam snapped. 

Dean wisely kept his mouth shut. He’d made his point, after all. No need to start a fight over it. 

 

Gabriel wobbled on his feet as he reappeared in his house and had to hold onto the wall to steady himself as he walked over to the couch. Chalk this one up to a bad day. It wasn’t often his plans backfired on him, and even when they did he rarely felt guilty enough to fix it. This just went to show what he got for trying to help. Every time he’d tried to help he’d ended up paying the price for it. He should just give it up, but he knew he wouldn’t. As long as there was a chance, however slim, to save Sam from his intended fate, he had to try. He’d be pretty weak for a week or two as he recovered from this blow though.


	6. Chapter 6

Dean wisely waited a few days before bringing up the trickster again. He would have preferred to wait longer, but he was running out of time. “I think we’re overlooking a potential valuable ally,” he said.

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked suspiciously. 

“The trickster,” was as far as Dean got before Sam started to puff up and get ready for a tirade. “No, listen. Hear me out. He’s the most powerful thing we’ve ever come across. I get that he probably won’t help get me out of my deal, but maybe he’d be willing to at least help us find Lilith or something. Either way, it’s worth a try. Wasn’t it you that said we look under every stone?” 

“What would possibly make you think he’d help? If he’s even still alive after I staked him.”

“I think he’s still alive. He was alive enough to remove the stake and disappear wasn’t he? And like I said, he probably won’t help, but can we really not even try?” Dean asked. 

“Ok. Fine. So how do we contact him?” Sam asked poking a hole in Dean’s plan. 

“I don’t know. Usually when you talk to him he shows up,” he said with a shrug. 

“Ok so try talking to him then,” Sam said annoyed. 

“Hey trickster? Um…can we talk to you? No pointy objects involved?” Dean tried. They waited a few minutes and when nothing happened Dean turned to Sam. “Maybe you should try?”

“Why me? I’m the one who staked him remember? I’m the one he hates so much that he tortures me constantly. He’d be a lot more likely to come for you.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “He barely even notices me most of the time. Just try would you?”

Sam sighed. “Hey trickster? I need to talk to you. Please?”

 

Gabriel heard Sam calling him and sighed. He’d heard Dean before that too. Even without them having his name the intent was enough for him to hear it and he was rather tuned in to those two so they always came across louder than any others. He’d been intending to ignore them. He was still too weak to go another round, but worst case scenario, if they tried anything he could just disappear. Thankfully he wasn’t too weak to fly. He appeared on the opposite side of the room and behind them, making sure they didn’t have any stakes before he announced himself. “Then talk.”

They both spun quickly to see the trickster leaning casually against the wall, but they could both tell that there was something off in his stance, though they couldn’t quite put their finger on what it was. “Can you get Dean out of his deal?”

Gabriel’s jaw dropped. “Let me get this straight. You do nothing but spew hatred and threats at me, you try to work with demons and monsters left and right, and then, only after you nearly kill me, do you have the nerve to stand there and ask for my help?!” he asked incredulously pushing off from the wall in his anger, not quite realizing that he wasn’t as steady on his feet as he should have been for that. Only the fact that he knew that Sam didn’t have a stake on him kept him from disappearing as the hunter rushed towards him, grabbing a chair. Gabriel just shoved him away, none too gently as he sat. “I’m fine,” he snapped. He knew the show of concern was only because they wanted his help and it would quickly evaporate after he told them he couldn’t do what they wanted. 

“I’m…” Sam paused and took a deep breath. He couldn’t believe he was actually going to do this, but for the chance to save his brother’s life, he would suck it up. “I’m sorry.” He knew that any explanation or justification he tried to give would sound completely false so he just left it at that and hoped it would be enough. “Please. Can you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Gabriel said crisply, not looking at either of them. 

“Of course it matters,” Sam said. If he could but wouldn’t at least it would give them some hope that it could be done. 

“Well yes. I suppose it does matter whether I can or not, but it doesn’t matter what I say,” Gabriel told him. 

“What do you mean?”

“Truth is; I can’t get him out of the deal. Nothing can. But you won’t believe me, making this entire conversation a complete waste of time.”

The trickster was right. Sam didn’t believe him, but that idea had been a long shot anyway. It would have been nice if he would have done it, but it was mostly to soften him up for the next question. “Okay. Then would you help us find Lilith?”

Gabriel sat straight up and narrowed his eyes. “No,” he said firmly with a glare. 

“Why not? It can’t be that hard for something like you,” Sam asked.

“Because you need to stay well away from her and killing her won’t solve anything,” Gabriel said desperate for Sam to believe him. If they went against Lilith, he knew exactly what would happen and it was everything that he was desperate to stop. After taking Dean to hell, Sam would become her captive until he ‘managed to escape’ at the right moment to kill her. 

“She’s the one who holds Dean’s contract,” Sam said. 

“And you think killing her will void it? Use your brain, kid. You don’t really think it’s that easy to get out of a demon deal do you?”

“It’s not?” Dean asked skeptically. 

“Of course not,” Gabriel snapped. “If she dies someone else will take her place and all her contracts, so unless you plan to kill every one of the trillions of demons in hell in the next week or so, you’re up shit creek.” He turned to Sam and his expression softened a touch. “I told you that you can’t save your brother.”

“I don’t care. I have to try,” Sam said. “Please, just tell us where she is.”

“No. You want to do something so monumentally stupid I can’t stop you, but I’m not going to help you do it,” he barked as he disappeared. 

 

Gabriel appeared back in his house in a snit and threw another lamp at a wall as he collapsed back on the couch. Stupid hunters and their stupid suicidal co-dependencies. He sulked for an entire week. He was nearly back to full strength again when he suddenly doubled over. He felt like he was being ripped in two and he looked at the clock and noticed the time. Dean’s deal was up and Sam was heartbroken. When he felt the panic from the hunter piggybacking on his despair, he flew to his side, completely cloaked of course, just in time to see Lilith throw a blast of power at Sam. If Gabriel had a moment to think about it, he never would have done what he did next, but he didn’t have a moment to think. All he saw was Sam being threatened and he instinctually threw up a shield in front of the hunter and the blast blew right over it. 

Gabriel was cursing himself as soon as he’d done it, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that Lilith thought that Sam had done something to negate it and disappeared as he lunged at her. Sam fell to his knees next to his brother’s lifeless body and gathered the older hunter in his arms as he sobbed and Gabriel had to leave. He couldn’t bear to see this. The little bit of bleed over he was feeling from the hunter was bad enough without having to see him like that.


	7. Chapter 7

Gabriel gave Sam another week to recover from the blow, and also to allow himself to continue recovering. Stopping Lilith’s blast had set him back slightly on his healing. He desperately hoped that Sam would be in better shape than he had been during the Mystery Spot when Dean was dead. His hopes would be in vain though. When he did go and check on Sam, he found that he was far worse. Gabriel couldn’t even see Sam Winchester when he looked at him. All he could see was a young Lucifer and the icy pit in his stomach returned full force. He left without even pranking the hunter. He just couldn’t do it. He wanted nothing to do with Sam like this.

He couldn’t manage to stay away completely though. He checked in once a week or so, just to make sure that Sam was still alive and see if he had gotten any better. If he had come to terms with what had happened. Maybe since he knew that this one was real he would be able to move past it in time. He knew that Dean would be back though. When depended on how soon he broke the first seal. It wasn’t like he could tell Sam that though. Not only would Sam never believe him, but it would raise far too many questions about how he knew so much about hell’s plans. The only way he would have out of that situation without looking like he had been working with the demons would be to reveal his deepest secret and get himself caught and that wasn’t an option. 

He couldn’t bear to look in on Sam for very long when he checked on him, so he had no idea what was going on in the hunter’s life. Thus, he was caught completely off guard when, almost two months after Dean’s death, he checked on Sam and saw something horribly different about the hunter. He hadn’t even been able to control his response as he immediately made himself visible and slammed Sam into the wall. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he hissed angrily. 

Sam tried to push him off, but the little demi-god wouldn’t budge. “Get off me,” he snarled. “What are you talking about?” 

“Demon blood? Are you seriously that far gone?”

How dare this thing sit here and judge him after everything he had done. “I’m doing what I need to do and it’s none of your damn business,” he snapped. 

Gabriel’s clenched his jaw together in anger and the vein in his neck was pulsing as he tried to get himself under control. He was fighting both his anger at Sam for going so far, and his fear at the similarities to Lucifer. “You know she can’t bring Dean back,” Gabriel tried to reason with him. 

“I don’t care. All I have left is avenging Dean’s death. That’s all I can do and that’s what I’m going to do one way or another. You had your chance to help,” Sam snapped. 

“So that’s what this is? Vengeance? That’s a very slippery slope Sam, and do you have any idea what demon blood does to you?” 

“I. Don’t. Care. And again, it’s none of your damn business so just leave me the hell alone and stay out of my life.” Sam shoved at him again and this time Gabriel let himself be pushed back as the hunter stormed past him. He blinked at Sam’s back for a second before he disappeared. 

Gabriel reappeared back in his house, and for the first time in centuries, he felt moisture on his face as the tears flowed. He’d known that averting destiny was a long shot at best, but he had hoped. Oh how he had hoped that it could be done. That he could save Sam. He knew as soon as he carried out his Mystery Spot plan that he would never be able to have Sam. He’d known that the hunter would never forgive him, but he’d though that maybe he could at least save him. He could live with never having Sam as long as Sam was alright. As long as Sam was still Sam, but he wasn’t anymore. He was less and less Sam with every passing day and Gabriel was powerless to stop it. He sat on his couch and pulled his knees to his chest and put his head on them as he wept for his loss. 

Gabriel knew that by the time Dean was back it would be too late and he wouldn’t be able to go near them without being spotted. The angels and demons both would be watching too closely. If he was going to do something, then it would have to be now. He couldn’t just not try, so he started paying more attention. He saw the demon that was supplying Sam with blood and pushing him into exercising his powers. He barely resisted the urge to destroy things, including her, when he saw that Sam was sleeping with her. The fact that he would ever touch something as disgusting as a demon like that was repulsive to the archangel. 

Now that Gabriel had a better idea of what was going on, he would do what he could to avert it. He couldn’t kill the demon, Jen was her name apparently. He’d already killed Ruby and Jen already had him so high that Lilith would easily be able to insert another to take her place as long as she offered blood. Besides, killing yet another of Lilith’s agents might as well be putting up a neon sign that there was someone powerful working to stop her and he really didn’t need that headache. The only idea he had was to try and prevent Sam from going to her. 

He’d known that it wouldn’t work, but he had to try something. He couldn’t just stand by, and so every time Sam went to meet her, something would happen to delay him. Roadwork, accidents, police chases, fires, explosions, anything to cause him to have to detour and/or stop. It didn’t take long for the hunter to realize what was going on, but Gabriel just ignored the way the hunter cursed him. 

After more than a month of that, Sam was talking to Jen on the phone and he started to tell her about the trickster that was driving him crazy when suddenly the line went dead and Gabriel appeared in front of Sam. “Fine. You want me to leave you alone I will. Just keep your mouth shut,” he snapped. 

“And if I don’t?” Sam challenged. 

“Then you’ll never get another moment’s peace as long as you live,” Gabriel threatened. The last thing he needed was Lilith knowing that someone was trying to interfere and he’d felt the first seal break last week so it wouldn’t be long before he was out of the game anyway, not that anything he’d been doing had helped in the slightest. 

“Fine. I keep my mouth shut and you leave me alone,” Sam reluctantly agreed and the trickster disappeared. 

Gabriel felt the disturbance as Dean was raised from hell, and knew that from now on the brothers would be watched far too closely for him to get near them and he spent much of the next year just trying to keep his mind off of what he knew was going down out there. In the quiet moments he was haunted by thoughts of Sam’s soul being dimmed by the demon blood and Sam becoming Lucifer, so he did his best to have as few quiet moments as possible. 

When Gabriel felt the surge of power that meant the release of Lucifer he dropped everything and returned to his house so that he could break down in private. It was done. It was over. The world was going to be destroyed, but he didn’t really give a damn about that. His Sam was going to be destroyed. His soulmate was going to house the essence of his evil brother and be shredded apart, and he hadn’t been able to stop it.


	8. Chapter 8

After a few months of nothing, Gabriel was starting to get very antsy. It should be over by now. He couldn’t find Sam or Dean so he had no idea what was going on and it was driving him nuts. Finally, he decided to find them. He started setting up some tricks designed to attract hunters. The first few times he got other hunters, but finally they rolled up in town and Gabriel couldn’t really pinpoint which emotion was more prominent. Relief at seeing them alive and well. Anger that they were dragging out the inevitable. Joy that Sam was still Sam, and a hundred other things in between. He knew they had to get this over with. Rip off the bandaid, so to speak so he set things up to show them that. 

Gabriel was popping himself in and out of different characters. He especially enjoyed slapping Sam a few times as the nurse. He was really surprised when Dean caught him out so quickly in the hospital. He’d honestly never really watched the ridiculous hospital show so he hadn’t realized that he should have been wearing cowboy boots. He never would have pegged either of them as the type for that kind of show either so he hadn’t bothered going beyond the surface. “You guys are getting better!” he chirped as he let the façade of the doctor melt away. 

“Get us the hell out of here,” Dean snarled. They didn’t have time for these games and Dean really didn’t like his secret obsessions being aired for everyone to see. Not to mention the fact that the trickster had apparently gone back to dropping bodies, had him not at all amused. 

“Or what?” Gabriel put a miniscule amount of his available strength into wrenching the hunter’s arm away from him. Not enough to cause any real damage, but it would hurt enough to remind him exactly who he was talking to. “Don’t see any wooden stakes here, big guy.”

“That was you on the police scanner right? This is a trick?” Sam asked narrowing his eyes at the trickster. 

“Helloooo? Trickster? Come on. I heard you two yahoos were in town; how could I resist?” No need to tell them that he’d lured them there. 

“Where the hell are we?” Dean asked.

Gabriel smirked, “Like it? It's all homemade. My own sets, my own actors...call it my own little idiot box.”

“How do we get out?” Dean asked. 

“That, my friend, is the sixty-four-dollar question.” They would get out when they were ready to play their roles. 

Sam was losing his patience. “Whatever. We just, we need to talk to you. We need your help.”

“Hm, let me guess. You two muttonheads broke the world, and you want me to sweep up your mess?” Gabriel said. He knew exactly what they wanted and he could already feel the anger bubbling up in him. 

“Please. Just five minutes. Hear us out,” Sam asked hopefully. 

“Hear you out? Like you heard me out when I told you to let go of your brother? When I told you that it would be the death of you? When I told you that it would only end in blood and pain? When I told you not to go after Lilith? When I told you to stop drinking the demon blood? Hear you out like that?” Gabriel snapped. 

Sam just gaped at him for a minute. “All of that…it was…you were…trying to stop this?” he asked astonished. 

“Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! What? Did you think I just enjoyed wasting all that time and effort? Did you think I made a habit of showing myself to hunters and offering advice? And now that it’s too late…now you want my help? I thought you were supposed to be smart.”

“But…why? And how did you know?” Sam asked suspiciously. 

Gabriel cursed himself. He’d let too much slip. Time to deflect and make a plan. “Tell you what. Survive the next twenty-four hours, we'll talk,” he quipped. 

“Survive what?” Dean asked nervously.

“The game!” Gabriel chirped. 

“What game?”

“You're in it,” Gabriel said amused. He loved playing with them. 

“How do we play?” Dean asked starting to get a bit annoyed.

“You're playing it.”

“What are the rules?” Dean asked fully frustrated now and he only received a waggle of the eyebrows in response before the trickster disappeared. 

When Dean tried to walk away and got shot in the back, he felt the brief flash of pain before it lessened enough to be bearable. He realized right away that the trickster wasn’t making the pain completely realistic. He had been shot enough times to know that it hurt a lot more than this and he took comfort in the fact that he wasn’t trying to kill them. No sooner than Sam had removed the bullet from his spine, which really should have paralyzed him if it had been real, then they found themselves in some ridiculous Japanese game show. 

Sam, like Dean, realized that the trickster was shielding them from the worst of the effects when the bowling ball caught him right in the nuts. Not that it didn’t hurt like a bitch, but not as badly as it should have and nothing was broken. It didn’t garner too much goodwill from the younger hunter who was still reeling from the revelation that the trickster really had been trying to help all along. 

Gabriel cursed when Castiel showed up. He hadn’t seen his baby brother since he left heaven, and he wasn’t looking so good right now. In fact, he looked like he was falling. That explained a lot. Mainly how dumb and dumber had managed to stay archangel free for so long and why he hadn’t been able to find them. Cassie had probably warded them against detection. He, in the guise of the show host, snapped his fingers and the seraph was sent into the movie Dogma and resisted the urge to chuckle at himself for that one. Poor little seraph would be so lost, but he would be safe and out of the way at least. “No, no, no. Mr. Trickster no like pretty boy angels,” he said in character before turning to ask Dean his question. 

Sam finally figured out the rules of the game. He wished he had figured it out a little sooner, but at least he could spare his brother the same fate. Dean just barely managed to hit his buzzer in time and after that they went through a plethora of different stupid TV shows and movies and commercials and game shows, each one more ridiculous than the last. It had nearly been the twenty-four hour limit and Sam was waiting to see if the trickster would keep his word and actually show as the door to the sitcom apartment opened and Cas stumbled in. 

“You okay?” Dean asked fretting. 

“I don't have much time,” Cas said quickly.

“What happened?” Sam asked. Cas didn’t look so good. 

“I got out,” he said shortly but before he could say anything else Dean cut in. 

“From where?”

Cas was losing his patience. He just said he didn’t have much time and these questions were just wasting it. “Listen to me. Something is not right. This thing is much more powerful than it should be.”

“What thing—the Trickster?” Dean asked. 

Finally. They were focused on the right thing. “If it is a trickster.”

“What do you mean?” Sam asked confused. Of course it was a trickster. What else could it be?

Cas was suddenly flung towards the wall as the door opened again and the trickster skipped in “Hello!” That had been way too close. Cassie had obviously figure out that something was going on and tried to tip them off. He basked in the fake applause from the fake audience while he waited for someone to collect themselves. “Thank you. Thank you, ladies.” Cas managed to get up, duct tape on his mouth and just glared at his older brother. He could now see exactly who he was dealing with and this was so a complication that Gabriel didn’t need right now. “Hi, Castiel!” he chirped as if he hadn’t a care in the world before he just waved his hand and sent his baby brother back to a different movie. How the little seraph had gotten beat up in a comedy Gabriel had no clue, but maybe he would have a little more luck in a kid’s show. 

“You know him?” Sam asked suspiciously. The trickster had called the angel by name and he had seen the recognition in Cas’ eyes as well. Now that he had been tipped off that something wasn’t right his mind was ever turning. 

Dean had other concerns though. “Where did you just send him?”

“Relax, he'll live. ...Maybe.” Gabriel had no intention of harming Cassie, but they didn’t need to know that. Things were already getting out of hand here. He didn’t need to give them any more clues than they already had. 

That just set Dean off. “All right, you know what? I am done with the monkey dance, okay? We get it.”

“Yeah? Get what, hotshot?” Gabriel asked snottily. 

“Playing our roles, right? That's your game?”

“That's half the game,” Gabriel said smugly. 

“What's the other half?” Sam asked suspiciously. 

“Play your roles out there,” Gabriel said theatrically. 

“What's that supposed to mean?” Dean had a sinking feeling that he knew though. 

“Oh, you know. Sam starring as Lucifer. Dean starring as Michael. Your celebrity death match. Play your roles.” These idiots really needed everything spelled out for them apparently. 

“You want us to say yes to those sons of bitches?” Sam asked astonished. He’d thought that the trickster or whatever he was, had been all about stopping this thing. 

“Hells yeah. Let's light this candle!” Gabriel said, trying to hide his bitterness beneath his usual mask of joviality. 

“We do that, the world will end,” Sam pointed out. 

More of his bitterness than he liked slipped through at that. Of course he knew that. That was why he’d tried so hard to stop it. “Yeah? And whose fault is that? Who popped Lucifer out of the box? Hm? Look, it's started. You started it. It can't be stopped. So let's get it over with!”

Sam leveled a glare at him. The last thing he needed was more guilt piled on him by a monster. Dean started getting an idea though. “Heaven or hell, which side you on?”

“I'm not on either side,” Gabriel said honestly. Prior to the point of no return he had been on Sam’s side, but now…no he just wanted to keep his head down and try to salvage whatever he could out of this whole mess. 

“Yeah, right. You're grabbing ankle for Michael or Lucifer. Which one is it?” Dean asked skeptically. 

Gabriel was really starting to get annoyed now. “You listen to me, you arrogant dick. I don't work for either of those S.O.B.s. Believe me,” he said in a low warning tone. 

“Oh, you're somebody's bitch.”

That was the last straw. Gabriel thankfully managed to keep a tight enough hold on his temper not to do any permanent damage to the hunter, but he would have more than a few bruises after the force that the archangel slammed him into the wall with. “Don't you ever, ever presume to know what I am,” he hissed. He took a deep breath and centered himself to calm down a little bit before turning to look at Sam. “Now listen very closely. Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna suck it up, accept your responsibilities, and play the roles that destiny has chosen for you.”

“And if we don't?” Sam asked petulantly. 

Gabriel gave a cruel grin. “Then you'll stay here in TV Land. Forever. Three hundred channels and, uh, nothing's on.” He snapped his fingers and the hunters found themselves in a procedural cop show.


	9. Chapter 9

Gabriel, in place of one of the cops, saw Sam notice the one sucking on a lollipop that he had intentionally placed there as a decoy. He watched with amusement as the brothers tried to be slick, but failed miserably. He saw it a mile off before they stabbed the guy in the heart. He triggered another of the cops to morph into a likeness of him to taunt them. “Got the wrong guy you idiots,” and was, again, not surprised to find that guy with a stake in him too. He made it seem like they had killed him and gotten out. This was the best way to make them realize how hopeless escape was. They would do as he said or be stuck here forever. Knowing that his entire life was going to be destroyed was bad enough, but being forced to wait for the death knell was just torture. He waited until they were both asleep in a perfect replica of their actual motel room before he moved Sam’s consciousness into the Impala and gave it a few upgrades so that he could communicate. 

Dean woke up and started looking around for Sam before pulling out his phone as he headed outside. His confusion grew when he saw the car sitting there. If Sam didn’t go for breakfast or anything then where the hell was he. 

Sam was woken by a very odd feeling that he couldn’t exactly place. It almost felt like someone was sitting on him, but not really. When he realized what had happened he couldn’t help but groan. “I don’t think we killed the trickster,” he said wearily. How many lives did that damn thing have? Suddenly something dawned on Sam. “Maybe the stake didn’t work because it wasn’t a trickster.” 

“What do you mean?” Dean asked wondering where Sam was going with this. 

“You heard Cas. He said this thing was too powerful to be a trickster,” Sam reminded his brother. 

Dean thought for a moment. “And did you notice the way he looked at Cas? Almost like he knew him.”

Sam started to get a sinking feeling. “And how pissed he got when you brought up Michael and Lucifer.” 

Dean was getting the same feeling. “Son of a bitch!” he exclaimed slapping the steering wheel. “I think I know what we’re dealing with.”

“I think you’re right.” 

They took their few moments of peace to hash out a plan before pulling over and Dean got out and started rummaging in the trunk. “Dean?” Sam said tentatively. 

“What?”

“That, uh, feels really uncomfortable,” Sam said embarrassed and Dean quickly slammed the trunk, slight blush on his cheeks. “Ow. You sure this is gonna work?”

“No, but I have no other ideas,” Dean said with a shrug. “All right, you son of a bitch! Uncle! We'll do it!”

They waited a moment before Sam said, “Should I honk?”

Gabriel popped up with a grin on his face. “Wow. Sam. Get a load of the rims on you,” he said amusedly. 

“Eat me,” Sam sniped. 

“Okay, boys. Ready to go quietly?” Gabriel said smugly. 

“Whoa whoa whoa, not so fast. Nobody's going anywhere until Sam has opposable thumbs,” Dean said quickly. Other than being rather attached to his human brother, it was rather essential for their plan after all. 

“What's the difference? Satan's going to ride his ass one way or another,” Gabriel suppressed his wince at his wording. Truth was, it would be far easier to send Sam off to his destruction if he didn’t look like Sam at the time. He could tell they weren’t going to let him get away with that though. Of course now. Why would anything ever be made easier on him. He snapped his fingers and Sam got out of the car. “Happy?”

“Tell me one thing. Why didn't the stake kill you?” Dean asked suspiciously. 

“I am the Trickster,” Gabriel said smugly. 

“Or maybe you're not,” Dean said just as smug as Sam tossed a lighter on the ground. 

Only millennia of practice kept the fear and despair off his face as the holy fire sprung up around him. 

“Maybe You've always been an angel,” Dean dug the knife even deeper. 

Maybe he could bluff his way out of this. “A what? Somebody slip a mickey in your power shake, kid?”

“I'll tell you what. You just jump out of the holy fire and we'll call it our mistake,” Dean said smugness only increasing by the moment. 

This was the end. He was well and truly caught. He had lost. His last chance at peace was over. He started a slow clap. “Well played, boys. Well played,” he said bitterly. “Where'd you get the holy oil?” That wasn’t something you could pick up at the corner market after all. 

“Well, you might say we pulled it out of Sam's ass,” Dean joked. Gabriel figured out what he meant and if the situation hadn’t been so dire, he might have even laughed. 

“Where'd I screw up?”

“You didn't. Nobody gets the jump on Cas like you did,” Sam, ever loyal even in the fact of Cas’ steadily diminishing abilities. 

“Mostly it was the way you talked about Armageddon,” Dean added. 

“Meaning?” Gabriel asked with a slight raise of his eyebrow.

“Well, call it personal experience, but nobody gets that angry unless they're talking about their own family.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. If anyone would pick up on that it would be them. Their family was nearly as dysfunctional as his. 

“So which one are you? Grumpy, Sneezy, or Douchey?” Sam asked sarcastically. 

Gabriel sighed heavily. There was no going back now. He might as well spill all. “Gabriel, okay? They call me Gabriel.”

“Gabriel? The archangel?” Sam asked almost in awe. 

“Guilty,” Gabriel said petulantly. 

“Okay, Gabriel. How does an archangel become a trickster?” The older hunter had gone into full interrogation mode now. 

“My own private witness protection. I skipped out of heaven, had a face transplant, carved out my own little corner of the world. Till you two screwed it all up.” So he was a broken record on that subject. So what. He had every right to be bitter. 

“What did Daddy say when you ran off and joined the pagans?” Dean asked cheekily. 

“Daddy doesn't say anything about anything,” Gabriel said pointedly. That was a big part of the problem. Being deserted didn’t exactly make for a healthy family dynamic. 

“Then what happened? Why'd you ditch?” Sam was unable to fathom any reason other than an overbearing authority figure to run away from your family. 

“Do you blame him? I mean, his brothers are heavyweight douchenozzles,” Dean chimed in. 

“Shut your cakehole. You don't know anything about my family. I love my father, my brothers. Love them. But watching them turn on each other? Tear at each other's throats? I couldn't bear it! Okay? So I left. And now it's happening all over again.” Okay so they were right. His brothers were assholes, but they were still his brothers damnit and he wasn’t going to let other people tear them down like that. Especially not the way they were then.

“Then help us stop it,” Sam tried again. 

They just wouldn’t get the message. “It can't be stopped,” he reiterated. 

“You wanna see the end of the world?” Dean asked. 

“I want it to be over! I have to sit back and watch my own brothers kill each other thanks to you two! Heaven, hell, I don't care who wins, I just want it to be over!” He didn’t want any of this to happen, but it had and just like always they never wanted to fix anything until it was too late to be fixed and then treated him like the bad guy because he couldn’t do it. 

“It doesn't have to be like that. There has to be some way to…to pull the plug,” Sam said refusing to believe that it was over. 

Gabriel laughed harshly. “You do not know my family. What you guys call the apocalypse, I used to call Sunday dinner. That's why there's no stopping this, because this isn't about a war. It's about two brothers that loved each other and betrayed each other. You'd think you'd be able to relate,” he said pointedly. After the way they had both turned their backs on each other it was a miracle they were actually functioning partners again now. 

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked confused. 

Gabriel gaped at them for half a second. They really were up on their high horses weren’t they. “You sorry sons of bitches. Why do you think you two are the vessels? Think about it. Michael, the big brother, loyal to an absent father, and Lucifer, the little brother, rebellious of Daddy's plan. You were born to this, boys. It's your destiny! It was always you! As it is in heaven, so it must be on earth. One brother has to kill the other.” Best to rip the wool off of their eyes quickly. 

“What the hell are you saying?” Dean asked firmly stuck in denial. 

“Why do you think I've always taken such an interest in you? Because from the moment Dad flipped on the lights around here, we knew it was all gonna end with you. Always.” Gabriel knew that wasn’t the reason he’d taken an interest. Had he not been drawn to Sam so completely when they met, he probably never would have seen them again and just sat back and let destiny take its course. As soon as he realized that Sam was his soulmate though, he had changed his plans. 

“No. That's not gonna happen,” Dean said as if saying it enough would make it true. 

“I'm sorry. But it is,” and he really was sorry. Sorry that it had to be this way. Sorry that they never listened to him. Sorry that it had to get this far. He sighed. “Guys. I wish this were a TV show. Easy answers, endings wrapped up in a bow...but this is real, and it's gonna end bloody for all of us. That's just how it's gotta be.” Gabriel had no illusions that he would be able to stand by much longer. That’s part of the reason he’d wanted to get it over with before he gave into his instincts to protect Sam. There was a long silence after that statement. “So. Boys. Now what? We stare at each other for the rest of eternity?”

“Well, first of all, you're gonna bring Cas back from wherever you stashed him,” Dean ordered. 

“Oh am I,” Gabriel taunted. He knew he didn’t have much of a choice here, but having to take orders like that just galled him. 

“Yeah. Or we're going to dunk you in some holy oil and deep-fry ourselves an archangel,” Dean threatened. At least they were original. That was a threat he hadn’t heard before. He gave Dean a snooty look and snapped his fingers. He couldn’t technically use his powers while in the holy fire, but he could undo what was already done so he just dropped the warding keeping Cassie where he was and sure enough the seraph immediately appeared at Dean’s side. “Cas, you okay?” Dean asked fretfully. 

“I'm fine,” he told Dean before turning to look heatedly at his big brother. “Hello, Gabriel,” he said pointedly, thinking he was dropping the bombshell, only realizing by the lack of reaction that the hunters had already figured that out. 

“Hey, bro. How's the search for Daddy going? Let me guess. Awful.” Gabriel made a face at his brother who just glared at him in response. 

“Okay, we're out of here. Come on, Sam,” Dean said turning to walk away. 

Gabriel could feel his fear start to clench in his stomach. There were few fates worse for an angel than being trapped in holy fire. “Uh…Okay…Guys?!” He would forever deny how high his voice climbed “So…so what? Huh? You're just gonna…you're gonna leave me here forever?” He knew that Cassie at least knew what that would mean for him. It would have been far kinder to kill him. It would have been less torture to just shred his grace. They couldn’t do this. 

“No. We're not, 'cause we don't screw with people the way you do.” Gabriel could feel the fear starting to ease at Dean’s words and he found himself able to breathe again. “And for the record? This isn't about some prize fight between your brothers or some destiny that can't be stopped. This is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family.”

They all walked out, leaving Gabriel alone as the sprinklers rained down on him putting out the holy fire. Damn hunters though they knew everything. Gabriel wasn’t afraid to stand up to his family. If he thought it would do any good, he would do it in a heartbeat to save Sam. Even if it meant his death. There would be no point though. He would die and then Lucifer would get Sam anyway. Lucifer would always get Sam. The only chance Gabriel ever had was when he was in the cage. That’s what he was really afraid of. Having to look into Sam’s eyes and see Lucifer staring back at him. Having to see Sam’s soul being crushed under the weight of his evil brother.


	10. Chapter 10

They made it back to their motel, hopefully for real this time and tumbled into bed, too exhausted to move. Unfortunately, Sam’s mind wasn’t as tired as his body as he just lay there turning things over in his mind for hours. It didn’t make sense. If Gabriel really wanted the apocalypse stopped why not just kill them? Then they couldn’t start it. Not only had he not done that, but he went out of his way to save them, Sam in particular. In the absence of killing them, he could have kidnapped them and held them prisoner to keep them from starting it. He was certainly powerful enough, and Sam suspected they’d only seen a hint of his real power. What was the point of this whole trick here? Sam could understand wanting it over with, but to go to all that trouble to push something that was inevitable anyway was a little extreme. He had implied that he hated wasting his time so what was the rush? Why did he need it over quickly so badly? Why had he given up on the Mystery Spot? If his only purpose was to avert the apocalypse and keep his family from fighting why didn’t he keep going until Sam learned? Most importantly, why had he gone to so much trouble to apologize afterwards? He thought he was right. That he had done what he had to do, so why did he care if Sam forgave him or not? And what the hell was the purpose of driving him crazy after that?

When he thought that Gabriel was just a trickster it had been easy to figure out. He was a cruel sadistic asshole who liked to torture people in as many ways as possible and for some reason found Sam fun to play with. Knowing now that he was really an archangel, and that he’d been trying to stop the apocalypse made Sam start questioning the deeper meanings behind everything he’d done, but he still couldn’t figure it out. Eventually he couldn’t help but drift off to sleep, but the thoughts never left him, even in sleep as they wove their way into his dreams. 

The next morning, Dean went out for breakfast and Sam tried praying to Gabriel. “Gabriel, I don’t know if you can hear me…” he trailed off as he suddenly felt cold wind slamming against him. He opened his eyes and most certainly did not screech when he saw that he was a few hundred feet in the air, suspended over a snow-capped mountain. 

“Do not. Ever. Under any circumstances. Pray to me as Gabriel,” the archangel said firmly.

“O-okay. I-I won’t. Just…please don’t drop me,” Sam said wide-eyed. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “I’m not gonna drop you, you moron. I happened to be up here skiing when I heard your prayer,” he said as he pointed to the sticks on his feet. 

“Can we…I don’t know…have this conversation…you know…on the ground?” Sam asked nervously. He wasn’t usually afraid of heights, but being suspended so high up with no support whatsoever was more than enough to scare the piss out of him. 

Gabriel smirked. “If you say so,” he said mischievously. 

“Oh no! Don’t even think about it! Gaaaaaaaa!” Sam didn’t even bother trying to deny his scream as they plummeted towards the earth, him holding tightly to Gabriel’s back as the archangel just bent his knees as they hit the top of the mountain and started speeding down so fast that Sam couldn’t see anything but blurs rushing by them. He could feel the shifts as Gabriel leaned to the sides and swerved around things that he couldn’t even make out. Every time they left the ground, Sam’s screams started up again and he was holding Gabriel so tightly that if he had been human he would have had more than a few broken bones, not to mention not being able to breathe.

It felt like forever to Sam before they reached level ground and started to slow down, but it was still a few more minutes before Gabriel turned to the side and they skidded to a stop. The snow wasn’t too deep here at the bottom so Gabriel just stepped out of the skis and started walking, laughing heartily at the fact that Sam was still clinging to his back. “Not that I don’t enjoy the cuddles, but you can let go now,” he teased. 

As soon as Gabriel had referred to it as cuddling, Sam let go like he’d been scalded, but his legs weren’t exactly steady enough to hold him and he fell to his ass in the snow just making Gabriel laugh harder. “You said you wanted to talk on the ground,” he said with a cheeky shrug. 

“That’s not…I-I didn’t…didn’t mean…you…ass!” 

Gabriel reached out for the nearest tree to brace himself on as he was now doubled over almost in tears from his laughter. “You know…you scream like a girl.” 

“Fuck off,” Sam snapped as he tried to pull himself to his feet. 

“Who knew that so much extra weight would add so much speed? We really have to do that again sometime. That was great. Maybe next time mmmph…”

Sam had no idea why he’d done that. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen to his brain? Maybe it was the adrenaline? Or the joy that he was actually still alive? All he knew was that he desperately wanted to shut the jerk up and for some reason, giving his mouth something else to do seemed like the best idea, so he pinned the stunned archangel against the tree and crashed their lips together. It was all teeth and tongues. It was more like a violent battle for dominance than a kiss, made even more so by Sam’s hand wrapped tightly in Gabriel’s hair pulling his head back for a better angle. Sam also realized something else. He should be stopping. It had served its purpose. It had shut Gabriel up. But he didn’t want to stop and he couldn’t be bothered to care at the moment. 

When Sam found himself in need of air, his hand in Gabriel’s hair loosened and he took half a step back, breathing heavily as his eyes widened at the thought of what he’d just done. He started to continue backing up, but the firm hand on his lower back made him pause. It wasn’t tight enough to keep him from going if he really wanted to, but it was a very clear invitation to stay and Sam had no idea which he wanted to do at the moment. 

As Sam’s lips left his Gabriel’s head rested back against the tree, also breathing heavily, eyes still closed as he just tried to sear the moment into his memory. He felt the hunter starting to move away and Gabriel’s hand moved quickly to the small of Sam’s back as a mantra started in his head. ‘Please don’t go Sam. Don’t run. Please. Stay.’ No words left his lips though. He didn’t dare speak. He didn’t even dare open his eyes for fear that the hunter would see the emotion swirling in them. He was surprised when his silent prayers were answered and Sam stayed still, but he was frozen in place, the only movement from him his heavy breathing as he tried to catch his breath. 

It was a few more minutes before Sam managed to move again, but when he did, to his surprise, he didn’t move away. He moved closer. Slowly and hesitantly as his hand moved away from where it had come to rest against the tree to brush against the side of Gabriel’s face as their lips inched closer together. He could feel the archangel’s breath mingling with his own as he tried to figure out if he even wanted to close the last tiny distance between them. 

Gabriel’s breath hitched as Sam moved closer. The first time had obviously been an impulsive accident, but this…this was different. Was he really getting this lucky? He felt the hunter’s fingers brushing against his face and he had to remind himself to breathe, but then Sam stopped. He was so close. So close he could almost taste it. Part of Gabriel wanted to wait for Sam to come the rest of the way to him, but he couldn’t. Not with those perfect lips so close. He could practically feel the fear and nerves rolling off the hunter as he tilted his chin just slightly forward. Just enough for their lips to touch and then Sam was kissing him. Tentatively and nervously, but damn if it wasn’t the most amazing thing Gabriel had ever experienced in his long life. Gabriel was afraid to react too strongly. He didn’t want to scare Sam off, so he was just as nervous and hesitant from his side.

It wasn’t until he’d pulled back again, this time keeping his forehead resting against Gabriel’s that Sam realized that he did want this. He wanted Gabriel. Desperately. He surged forward again, kissing the archangel without fear or hesitation, without anger or brutality, with just unbridled desire. 

Gabriel definitely felt the change and he went with it as he pulled Sam tightly against him and kissed him with everything he had. It was slow and deep and meant more than life to the lonely archangel. He had no idea if this would last. If this was the beginning of something more, or just a one-time thing, and he had no intention of worrying about it. Right now, in this moment, he had everything he’d ever wanted. He could worry about the rest later.


	11. Chapter 11

This time when Sam pulled back he looked at Gabriel for some kind of reaction. He had no idea what the archangel wanted here or how he felt about any of this. Gabriel was grinning at him and after a moment he started to laugh. Sam was flooded with embarrassment and shoved away from Gabriel. “You’re an asshole,” he said as he started to storm off despite having nowhere to go. He just knew he wasn’t going to stand there while he was being made fun of. 

Gabriel realized that Sam thought he was laughing at him and he sobered immediately. “Sam wait!” he called after the retreating hunter. When he didn’t even pause in his stride Gabriel flew in front of him and pushed him against another tree. “I wasn’t laughing at you.” 

“Oh? And who were you laughing at then?” Sam replied sarcastically. 

“No one. I just…” When words failed him he decided to try actions instead as he pressed himself against the hunter and kissed him desperately. 

All thoughts of embarrassment and anger flew from the hunter’s head and he was kissing Gabriel back just as enthusiastically. One of the archangel’s hands wrapped in Sam’s hair and Sam’s arms went around Gabriel’s back pulling him in even tighter as Gabriel stood on his tiptoes to get a better angle. Sam’s arms tightened around Gabriel’s lower back and he could feel Gabriel’s erection pressing against his own and he gave a needy whimper. When Gabriel felt that Sam was just as excited as he was, he lost all sense of control and his hands went to Sam’s pants. 

When the hunter felt Gabriel fumbling with his pants, hesitation started to creep in and all his thoughts and fears that he’d forgotten when Gabriel kissed him came rushing back. He tore his lips away from the archangel’s and gasped out, “Gabriel, wait.”

Before Sam could even blink the archangel was standing a few feet away, running a hand through his hair as he turned away. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I guess I got a little carried away.” 

“I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on here,” Sam said confused. “I mean one minute you’re laughing at me and the next minute you’re…that.”

Gabriel sighed and, having gotten himself under control, turned back to the hunter. “I told you I wasn’t laughing at you. I was just…” he trailed off trying to get his thoughts together. “Jesus Sam. You have ‘no idea’ how long I’ve wanted this. Dreamed of this moment and now it’s actually happening and I just…I don’t know.” Gabriel couldn’t even find the words to express it, but judging by the softening expression on the hunter’s face, Sam understood. 

Sam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. All of the answers to all of his questions started to fall into place. If Gabriel…cared about him…it gave reasons to all the things that he hadn’t been able to figure out. “You…want me?” Sam asked trying to wrap his head around the idea. 

“Obviously.” Gabriel rolled his eyes as he stepped a little closer to the hunter again. “Did you even listen to my apologies after the Mystery Spot?”

“I…um…not really? I was a little too upset to care,” Sam said sheepishly. 

“I am sorry, Sam. Really. You have no idea how much it tore me apart to put you through that. To have to see you like that. It nearly destroyed me,” Gabriel said sadly looking down away from the hunter. 

Sam blinked at him in shock for a moment. To see him so serious and sincere was very out of character for the usually charismatic archangel and all Sam could think about was getting that Gabriel back. He reached out and lifted Gabriel’s head, placing a short soft kiss to his lips. “I forgive you,” he said earnestly. Knowing now what the purpose was and how much it had hurt Gabriel too, made it easy to forgive him. He had brought Dean back after all. 

Gabriel let out a sigh of relief and rested his forehead on the hunter’s shoulder. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of him with those three words. “Thank you,” he whispered. He felt Sam’s arms wrap around him and the hunter’s head rested against his. 

Sam had no idea what to think about any of this. He had just started to realize that there was some sort of attraction there and things were moving way too fast for his comfort. He needed to get some emotional distance. “You said something about not praying to you?” he remembered. 

Gabriel barely suppressed his sigh. He knew what the hunter was doing and he could understand it. He took the hint and moved away, snapping up some plush chairs for their conversation. “Right,” he said as he settled himself into one, snapping up some hot chocolate for both of them. “I didn’t mean don’t pray at all. Just don’t use the name Gabriel in your prayers. Too much risk for someone else to intercept them. They all think I’m dead and it needs to stay that way.”

“So what? I’m just supposed to keep calling you the trickster?” Sam asked not liking that idea at all. 

“That works or if you really want a name you can pray to Loki. I’ll get those too. It’s mostly about intent. As long as you intend for me to hear you, I will, no matter what you call me,” Gabriel explained. 

“But I can still call you…by your name when we’re together right?” Sam asked. 

“If you must. I prefer Loki or trickster though. I haven’t been Gabriel in a really long time.” 

“Well I like Gabriel,” Sam said reaching across to take the archangel’s hand, blush tinging his cheeks as he did so. 

The corners of Gabriel’s mouth quirked up slightly. “Gabriel it is then, but not in front of other people.”

“Other than Dean and Cas,” Sam suggested. 

“I wouldn’t make you keep things from your brother and I suppose my brother is already in on the secret anyway so…” Gabriel trailed off with a shrug as he threaded their fingers together. 

Sam took a deep breath and broached the real subject he had wanted to talk about, with a bit of a twist now. “So…um…what is this?” he asked nervously gesturing to their joined hands. 

“It’s whatever you want it to be, Sam,” Gabriel told him. 

“Well what do you want? I mean yesterday you were all about us saying yes to Michael and Lucifer and ending the world. How does that work with this?” Sam pointed out. 

Gabriel let out a heavy sigh, dropped Sam’s hand and got up and started pacing. He had almost managed to forget about the mess they were in now. “I want…” He made a frustrated sound as he ran his hand roughly through his hair. “I don’t know what I want,” he admitted annoyed. “I want none of this to have happened. But it did and I have no fucking clue what to do now.”

“Then help us,” Sam pleaded interrupting Gabriel’s pacing with his hands on the archangel’s shoulders. He leaned down to press a short, soft kiss to Gabriel’s lips. “Please.”

Gabriel jerked out of Sam’s grip and turned away from the hunter as he felt the tears welling up in his eyes. “I told you it can’t be stopped Sam. They will never stop coming for you. Lucifer will continue working to destroy everything. The only one that can stop him is Michael and you know how that works. I don’t know what else to do,” he said hopelessly. 

“There has to be a way, Gabriel. There’s always a way. Just help us find it. Help us find it and this thing with us can go wherever you want it to,” Sam tried to bargain. 

Gabriel spun back towards the hunter with a look that was halfway between incredulous and glaring, no longer caring about hiding his tears from the hunter. “Trying to use my feelings to bribe me? That’s low. Screw you Winchester,” he growled as he started to storm off. 

Sam paled as he realized that was exactly what he had done, but he hadn’t meant to. It had just come out that way. He rushed after Gabriel. “Gabriel, wait. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…” 

He was cut off as Gabriel spun around to face him. “Damn right you shouldn’t have. You really think I want it that way? That I would…” he couldn’t even finish the statement. 

“You’re right. I wasn’t even thinking about what I was saying. I’m sorry. Just completely forget that last part, but the rest…” 

Gabriel sighed wearily. He didn’t have much choice anymore. It was one thing when Sam was just an unattainable dream, but now…now he had a taste a happiness and if he had to die for it then so be it. He couldn’t just walk away. Not now. “I’ll do whatever I can,” he promised.


	12. Chapter 12

Sam sighed in relief. “Thank you Gabriel,” he said earnestly as he went to pull the archangel in for another kiss, but Gabriel turned his head away. 

“Don’t Sam. Not if it’s just because I’m helping you. I told you…”

“You don’t want it that way. I get it, and that’s not why,” Sam interrupted. Gabriel looked at him searchingly, trying to figure him out. “Look Gabriel. I have no idea what I’m feeling here or what I’m doing. Hell, before a few minutes ago I never even considered the idea of us, but I promise you…whatever this is…it isn’t a manipulation. It isn’t for thanks or gratitude. I don’t know what it is, but it’s not that.”

Gabriel seemed to accept that and gave a small smile and leaned up to give Sam the kiss he’d wanted. No sooner than their lips met, Sam’s phone started to ring. Sam groaned and pulled away. “I gotta get that.” He knew Dean was probably freaking out that he wasn’t there. 

Sure enough. “Where the hell are you?” Dean voice called from the other end of the phone. 

“I’m…um…” Sam turned to Gabriel. “Where are we?” 

“The base of Mt. Everest,” Gabriel said with a smirk. 

“I’m at the…” Sam stopped mid-sentence and turned to look at Gabriel incredulously. “Did we seriously just ski down Mt. Everest!” His voice raised a few octaves. 

“No ‘we’ didn’t. ‘I’ skied down Mt. Everest. You clung to my back and screamed like a girl,” Gabriel teased. 

The revelation had Sam forgetting all about the phone until he heard Dean’s booming laughter coming from the other end. Dean had figured out a long time ago that Gabriel had a crush on Sam. His over the top apologies after the Mystery Spot had been the first clue but the clincher had been all the pranks after that. It was too much like a little boy pulling the pigtails of the girl he liked. He’d been firmly against the idea when he had just been a trickster demi-god, but now that he was an archangel and probably their only hope of saving the world, he could get on board. “Long as he has you home by ten,” he laughed. 

“Yes dad!” Gabriel said loudly towards the phone with his own laugh as Sam turned bright red.

“Whatever,” Sam muttered and hung up. Dean knew where he was and that he was fine. That was all he needed. Sam looked back up the mountain and said in awe, “Mt. Everest.”

“Oh Sammykins. You should know I don’t do anything small,” he said waggling his eyebrows at the hunter with a chuckle. Sam rolled his eyes indulgently in response and Gabriel sidled up to him again. “Now where were we?” he asked seductively as he pulled Sam in for another kiss. 

Sam pressed Gabriel’s back against a tree just reveling in the feel of their lips and tongues working together. He had one hand on the side of Gabriel’s face and neck and the other against his hip, thumb tracing circles that he had no idea if the archangel could feel through the layers of clothes. He pulled out of the kiss again but he didn’t move. He kept his body pressed against Gabriel’s as he drank in the moment. “You never answered my question,” he said in almost a whisper. 

“What question?” Gabriel asked breathlessly. 

“What is this?” Sam asked almost in awe. 

“I did answer you. This is whatever you want it to be,” Gabriel said softly. 

“That’s not an answer,” Sam told him as his thumb stroked the archangel’s cheek and he pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. 

“But it’s the real answer,” Gabriel said leaning into the hunter’s touch and closing his eyes. “I’ll take anything you offer Sam.”

“If I just wanted one time…just to see what it would be like?” Sam asked, kissing a line up Gabriel’s jaw. 

“Then you can have it,” Gabriel said hands tightening in the back of the hunter’s jacket. 

“And if I wanted more than once. An occasional fuck buddy on a cold night?” He nibbled Gabriel’s earlobe and slipped his other hand just under the archangel’s shirt, not moving from his hip, his thumb now running circles over the soft skin. 

“A-all you have to do is call,” Gabriel assured him as his breathing started speeding up. 

“And if I wanted a real relationship? If I wanted you to be mine?” Sam’s lips moved feather-light over the archangel’s neck as he moved a hand to the back of it to better guide Gabriel’s head where he wanted it to go. 

“I-I already am,” Gabriel whispered, rapidly losing all composure. 

Sam then threw the big one out. Testing his hypothesis. “And if I wanted forever with you?” He ran his hand from the back of Gabriel’s neck around to play with the top button on the archangel’s shirt as his other hand creeped a little higher on his side, pushing Gabriel’s shirt up with it. 

“For as long as I exist,” Gabriel said not even caring how much of himself he was putting out there anymore. He was way beyond censoring his words. Beyond worrying about scaring the hunter away. Beyond any rational thought at all. 

“You love me,” Sam whispered looking for confirmation of his suspicion as he ran his tongue from the archangel’s collarbone up to his earlobe. 

“More than all of creation,” Gabriel panted. If it weren’t for the fact that he was wedged between Sam’s body and the tree he would have lost his footing already. 

Sam was now certain that this wasn’t a trick. This wasn’t some game that Gabriel was going to hold over his head later. This was real and where it went was all in his hands. “Why don’t you take us somewhere more comfortable?” he whispered seductively. He wasn’t sure if he imagined the needy whimper that came from the archangel as he felt a shift in the air and quickly cut his eyes around to find that Gabriel was now pressed against the wall in a very fancy hotel room. 

Gabriel wasn’t sure how far Sam wanted to take this, so he didn’t have them appear directly in bed, and made sure to go somewhere that had both bed and couch options. The last time he’d tried to take the lead Sam had stopped him, so he would put all control in the hunter’s hands…this time. “Sam…” he breathed out as the hunter’s lips latched onto the spot just above his collarbone where his neck met his shoulder. 

“Mmm. Much better,” Sam murmured as he pressed his hips forward, letting Gabriel feel just how excited he was. 

Gabriel gasped at the feel of Sam’s hard length pressing against his own and when he felt the first button on his shirt pop open, he took a chance and started to slide Sam’s jacket off his shoulders. Sam moved his arms enough to let it fall to the floor before he was back to Gabriel’s buttons, and the archangel’s hands wandered up underneath Sam’s shirt over his sides and back causing the hunter to suck in a sharp breath and the rest of Gabriel’s buttons went flying. “Sorry,” Sam muttered against Gabriel’s half, bare shoulder. 

“Don’t care,” Gabriel gasped out. Sam wasted no more time shoving Gabriel’s shirt and jacket together off of him before pulling his own t-shirt over his head and going in for a deep, fervent kiss. 

The feel of their bare chests rubbing together was pure bliss. Gabriel had never imagined that he could get this lucky and desperately hoped that Sam wasn’t intending to stop anytime soon. Gabriel was pulled away from the wall as Sam’s hands moved down over his ass and down to his thighs as the hunter pulled him up. Gabriel took the hint and wrapped his legs around Sam’s waist, only to find them tumbling into the bed a few seconds later, Sam over top of him grinding his hips down as his tongue plundered the archangel’s mouth. 

Sam had done more than his fair share of experimenting in college so he knew well how to handle a man and had no trepidation about this step. He swallowed Gabriel’s anticipatory moan as his hands moved to the front of the archangel’s pants. It wasn’t long before Sam was pulling back long enough to divest them both of their remaining clothes before slotting himself back between Gabriel’s legs, both of them letting out low moans as their naked erections slid against each other and Sam’s lips latched back onto Gabriel’s neck as one of the archangel’s hands moved to his hair and the other slid between them and wrapped around both of their aching cocks, which were soon slick with pre-cum. 

Gabriel removed his hand from Sam’s hair long enough to press a previously non-existent tube of lube into the hunter’s hand with a whimpered, “Please.” It was only a few seconds before he felt Sam nudging his legs open wider as his hand slid down and a finger breeched Gabriel’s entrance, causing him to arch up and his rhythm over their cocks faltered. 

Sam felt himself getting too close way too soon and if Gabriel didn’t stop touching them like that he was gonna blow before the main event, so he sat up far enough that he didn’t need his other arm for support and used his free hand to grab both of Gabriel’s wrists and pin them above the archangel’s head as he leaned back down, sliding a second finger into him as he did. “Oh…god…Sammy…” Gabriel panted before his lips were busy with Sam’s. 

Sam’s hips moving over Gabriel’s as he ground their erections together was pressing his hand harder into Gabriel and it wasn’t long before he was inserting a third finger and Gabriel couldn’t handle any more. “Please…shit…in…in me…Sam…please…”

Sam lined himself up and was intending to go slow, but that decision was taken away from him as Gabriel’s legs wrapped around him and pulled him forward, while he lifted his hips taking Sam all the way to the hilt. Sam let out a keening moan, followed by a gasping, “Fuck…Gabriel…yes…” It had been so long since he’d been with a man and he knew there was no way he was going to last long. He pulled out and slammed back in hard, only to be met with another lift of Gabriel’s hips pulling him deeper. 

Sam threw Gabriel’s legs over his shoulders and put one hand underneath the archangel’s lower back, lifting him up as his other hand went to Gabriel’s impressive cock. When he started driving hard and fast, pumping Gabriel in time with his thrusts, Gabriel’s hands moved up to the wall to brace himself against it. “Yes Sam! Fuck! More!” He cried out. 

“God…G-Gabe…so…so close…I’m…shit…gonna cum…Oh…god…c-cum…for me…Gabe…” Sam wanted to get Gabriel off first. Wanted to feel the archangel clenching around him as he spilled himself. Wanted to see him lose control. “Oh…fuck…Gabriel…please…” and then Gabriel was crying out as his orgasm washed over him and Sam’s voice joined his own as the hunter slammed hard and deep one last time filling the archangel with his seed. 

Sam leaned forward, hands on the bed holding himself up as he stilled over Gabriel closing his eyes and trying to catch his breath. Gabriel, also trying to catch his breath, watched him closely and he could see the tension in the hunter. “Sam?” he asked worriedly, afraid that the hunter was having regrets. 

Sam opened his eyes and gave Gabriel a warm smile before leaning down for a quick, sweet kiss. “I’m good. Just wrapping my mind around things,” he assured him afterwards falling to his side, propped on his elbow, other hand on Gabriel’s wet chest as he gazed down at the thoroughly debauched archangel. 

“Oh?” Gabriel said lips quirking into a smile himself as he said in what he hoped was a casual voice. “So you saw what it was like.”

It took a second for Sam to catch Gabriel’s meaning and he remembered the teasing he had done before while he was trying to gauge the depth of Gabriel’s feelings and he considered the best way to tell Gabriel what he wanted. “Yes. I did. And I want more than a fuck-buddy Gabe.”

Gabriel got what he was saying and he couldn’t help the grin that pulled from his face. “Good. Because if you think I’m giving you up after that you’ve had one too many blows to the head,” he joked. 

“Oh hell no,” Sam said. “You’re mine now.” He nipped playfully at Gabriel’s jaw. 

Gabriel chuckled. “I’ve been yours since the day we met.”


	13. Chapter 13

“Since the day we met huh?” Sam asked as his hands danced over the lithe muscles on Gabriel’s chest. The hunter felt a flutter in his own chest as the light blush spread over the archangel’s cheeks and Gabriel just gave a sheepish shrug. 

Gabriel looked away from the hunter, heart beating a mile a minute. He couldn’t believe he’d just said that. Hell he couldn’t believe half of what he’d said in the last hour or so and started wracking his brain trying to remember what all he actually ‘had’ said. He paled as he remembered telling Sam that he loved him more than all of creation for as long as he existed. Talk about throwing a lot at someone way too soon. 

Sam could tell that Gabriel was starting to panic over what he’d said so he reached up and pulled the archangel’s face back towards him and kissed him slow and sweet. “We’re good Gabe. I heard everything you said and I’m still here aren’t I? Can’t say that I’m there yet, but I wanna see where this goes. I want to give this a chance. If you can give me that time to catch up, I won’t run away. Deal?” 

Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as he’d realized what all he’d said and revealed, he couldn’t help but wonder how much Sam had heard. How much had registered in his lust hazed mind and how much would hit him later. He realized that Sam was waiting for a response. “Yeah. Deal,” he said with a grin. 

“And don’t feel like you have to hold back. If we’re gonna do this thing I wanna do it all the way,” Sam said, feeling the need to get everything out there now before it became an issue. If Gabriel was that freaked about not holding back his words, he didn’t want to think about what else he might hold back. 

“Only if you promise to tell me if I’m getting to be too much,” Gabriel said. He knew full well that he could be more than a little overbearing at times and the last thing he wanted to do was to risk pushing Sam away. 

“Deal,” Sam said leaning down to kiss Gabriel again. “So…um…what do we tell Dean? I mean...should we tell him about us or…”

“Whatever you want Sam,” Gabriel said despite the fact that the idea of being some dirty little secret galled the hell out of him. 

“I’m asking what you want. No holding back remember?” Sam said firmly realizing that the archangel definitely had an opinion that he wasn’t sharing. 

“I’m holding back on this one because it’s your brother and your decision, but if you want my opinion…?” he waited for Sam to nod before he said. “I hate the idea of being your dirty little secret. I hate the idea of having to hide this from your brother, especially since you’re with him far more than is healthy. Not to mention, judging by his remarks on the phone earlier, he probably suspects something anyway.”

Sam nodded. “Then we tell him. And even if it’s my decision, I still want to know what you think, even if I end up going the other way with it.”

Gabriel gave him a small smile. Sam was really serious about trying a real relationship here and they were finding their footing. It really was more than he had ever dreamed possible. He rolled to his side, switching their postions so that Sam was on his back and Gabriel leaning over him. He had held himself back far too much. He kissed the hunter deeply as his hands, and then his lips once they pulled away from Sam’s explored every inch of the hunter’s body. 

By the time Gabriel’s lips and tongue were tracing the hunter’s solid abs, Sam was rock hard and leaking. Gabriel kept moving down, nipping and sucking at the hollow of Sam’s hip before moving over and running his tongue roughly up the underside of Sam’s cock. Sam sucked in a sharp breath, followed by a needy whimper which turned into a gasping moan as Gabriel reached the tip and wrapped his lips around and then took him all the way down. 

Sam barely noticed the finger prodding his entrance until the stars exploded behind his eyes as the archangel thrust his finger inside, directly for the sweet spot and dear god…the things that Gabriel could do with his mouth and hands were incredible. He had to be using his powers or something to keep Sam from coming, because otherwise he would have blown at least four times by the time the archangel had three fingers pumping in his ass. 

Sam whimpered as he was suddenly empty. “Please…god…Gabriel…please…” he gasped as he felt Gabriel shifting so that his hard length was lined up with Sam’s tight hole. Gabriel didn’t need to be asked twice as he began pressing in slowly, wanting to savor the moment. 

“Shit…Sammy…so good…” he panted as he leaned down to kiss the hunter desperately. As Gabriel started to pick up the pace Sam was left just clutching at the archangel’s back and arms as he was reduced to nothing resembling coherence. As incredible as Gabriel was with his mouth and hands, it was nothing compared to this. Sam had no idea how he had ever learned to move this way, but it was the most amazing thing he’d ever felt. He never wanted it to end, but at the same time he desperately needed to cum. 

Gabriel too had been trying to drag it out as long as he could, but being buried balls deep in his soulmate for the first time was doing things to his control. He’d already had to reign in his grace more than once before they ended up in a commitment that Sam wasn’t ready for and that Gabriel would never consider as long as the current dangers loomed over them. His pace sped up exponentially as he felt himself getting close and he took Sam’s length in his hand as he moved hard and fast within the hunter. When Sam spilled over Gabriel’s hand he drove deep one last time and cried Sam’s name as he blew. Once he was spent, he slowly pulled his softening cock out of the hunter and collapsed to the bed, curling up to the hunter’s side as he snapped his fingers to clean them up. 

Sam flinched at the sound and then laughed at himself. Gabriel lifted his head from Sam’s chest and raised a curious eyebrow. “It might be a while before the sound of a fingersnap doesn’t make me flinch anymore. 

Gabriel laughed heartily. “Don’t feel bad. I’ve seen rooms full of gods fall to pieces at the sound.” 

Sam joined him in laughter. “Now that sounds like some stories I want to hear.” He wouldn’t get to hear them now though as the moment was broken by his phone ringing. Sam sighed and grabbed it. 

“Got a text from Chuck. He needs us,” Dean told him. 

“Yeah. Sure. Gimme a few and I’ll have Gabriel bring me back,” he said as he rolled out of bed. “Did he say what was up?”

“Nah he just sent an address and that it was life or death,” Dean told him. 

Sam rolled his eyes. “Everything’s life or death with him,” he grumbled before turning to Gabriel and asking, “Where are my pants?” 

Gabriel held up his hands in surrender. “I didn’t do anything with them,” he said with a grin, liking how the hunter decided to drop the bomb on his brother. “Did you kick them under the bed?” 

Sam bent down to look as Dean said, “I didn’t need that mental image,” before getting back to the main reason for the call. “Yeah, he’s a bit of a drama queen, but you know the one time we don’t go is the one time he’ll really need help.”

“Aha! Found them! You’re probably right. I’ll be there in a few,” Sam said as he hung up the phone. As he pulled his pants on he looked up at Gabriel, who was still sprawled naked in the bed. “You were right. He already suspected.”

“I figured. So who’s Chuck?” Gabriel asked curiously. He didn’t remember them knowing any hunters named Chuck and a hunter being a drama queen was rather far-fetched anyway. 

“Chuck Shirley,” Sam said assuming Gabriel would know the name. When he noticed Gabriel looking at him expectantly, he furrowed his brow in confusion. “Prophet? Writing the Winchester Gospels?” 

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “I know the name of every prophet that has ever or will ever exist and Chuck Shirley…or Charles Shirley, or Chuckie Shirley, or any other iteration of that name…is not on the list.”

“Cas said it was. And the archangels are protecting him,” Sam said getting more confused by the minute. “Maybe something changed since you left heaven?”

“That’s something that can’t change. The prophets are set in stone. I…have no idea what’s going on here. Just…please be careful?”

Sam gave the archangel a nervous smile. It definitely sounded like something fishy was going on here and he knew already that Gabriel would be watching closely anyway, despite his warnings. “I will. I promise.” Now dressed, he leaned down to kiss Gabriel before the archangel sent him back to his motel room.


	14. Chapter 14

Once the brothers were on the road, Sam told Dean what Gabriel had said about Chuck. Dean’s response was very predictable. “What so you think Cas is lying? You actually believe the trickster over Cas?”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Sam sighed. “I don’t know what to believe. All I know is that there is something fishy going on here and we need to keep our eyes open. That’s it.”

“And you don’t think your new boyfriend is just trying to play another trick on you?” Dean asked pointedly. 

“No. I don’t. First of all, what would be the point here? Second of all, you didn’t see his face. That was genuine confusion and concern I saw. It was no trick.” Sam saw Dean start to puff up again and quickly added, “And I don’t think that Cas would lie to us about something like that either which means that one of them is mistaken, and until we can figure out who, we need to be on our guard.”

Dean grumbled a bit, but accepted that. He didn’t really like the idea of prophets anyway, but if he wasn’t a prophet then how did he know all the things he knew? How did he write things before they happened and how did he know such private details about their lives? They arrived at the address that Chuck had texted them the next morning only to find that the so-called prophet had no idea why they were there and in fact seemed anxious to get them to leave. 

“What’s wrong? Didn’t see us coming?” Sam asked playing it off as a joke just in time to see Becky come bounding down the stairs of the motel and he groaned. When the annoying girl started fawning over him, Sam wasted no time in telling her, “I’m happily taken now thanks.”

Normally, the watching archangel would have preened at those words, but he was too busy being in shock at what he was looking at. That explained how Cassie and every other angel hooked up to heaven thought him a prophet. There was only one being in existence that could falsify the names of the prophets and sear a fake one into the minds of the angels. But what was he doing here? What was his involvement in all of this? Whose side was he on?

He waited until ‘Chuck’ was alone before he appeared in the room. “What are you doing here father?” he asked suspiciously. 

“My business here is my own. How did you find me Gabriel?” 

“You know how I found you. And if your business involves any harm coming to Sam Winchester then it is my business.”

Chuck gave a small smile. “So you have found your soulmate,” he said knowingly. 

“Yes. I did. Though why you would give me a soulmate destined to be my brother’s vessel I have no idea. Did I really disappoint you that badly that you would want me to suffer so much?” he asked hurt. 

Chuck sighed sadly and reached out for his youngest archangel, only to find Gabriel taking a step back. “Oh Gabriel. You didn’t disappoint me. It was never supposed to be this way. The vessels were never supposed to be born so soon. You were always destined for him, but he shouldn’t have been a vessel.”

Gabriel looked at him questioningly. He wasn’t sure whether he believed that. “So what are we going to do about it then?” 

“There is nothing I can do. I gave them free will for a reason and I will not take it away again. From the humans or from the angels. I left so they could learn to find their own way. That is no less valid now than it was then.”

“So you’re just going to let them destroy the world?” Gabriel asked incredulously. 

“I hope it doesn’t come to that. It will be up to the Winchesters to stop it, and with you on their side, perhaps they have a chance,” Chuck said, genuinely proud of his son. 

“You know I’m not going to survive this,” Gabriel pointed out. 

“Most likely,” Chuck admitted. 

“So you’re just abandoning us to our fate?” Chuck raised an eyebrow wondering how far Gabriel was going to go here. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. You’re really good at abandoning your children aren’t you? That was bad enough, but now I find out that you’re here…watching everything and getting a good laugh out of us trying to save YOUR world. Stringing them along and making everyone think you’re just a prophet when you’re nothing but a liar and a pretender.”

“Watch yourself Gabriel,” he warned. He was still God and the littlest archangel was getting very close to incurring his wrath. 

“Screw you. You abandoned us. You don’t get to play the father card.”

Gabriel suddenly found himself pinned against the wall, arm across his throat as he looked into the angry face of his father. “Regardless, I could still destroy you where you stand, Gabriel.”

“Then do it,” Gabriel challenged. “I’m dead anyway. You’re killing me anyway. You might as well do your own dirty work and have to see my light fade for yourself. Watch me die by your own hand instead of serving me up on a platter for my brothers to do it.”

Chuck let him go and spun and walked away, putting some distance between them. He wasn’t going to kill Gabriel, but the archangel’s claim that he was doing so anyway stung a bit. He paced for a moment before he turned back to Gabriel. “I will give you a hint…a valuable piece of information…on one condition.” He waited for Gabriel to nod before he said, “The cage can be reopened if you can find the keys.”

“What keys?” Gabriel asked, not missing the fact that his father had given him the information before the condition, binding him to an unknown agreement. He should have expected as much. He had gotten his trickster tendencies from somewhere after all. 

“That is for you to find. They exist and it can be done. What and how is up to you,” Chuck said. 

“And what is this information going to cost me?” Gabriel asked narrowing his eyes. 

“You can never tell anyone who or what I am,” he said. 

“You want me to lie to Sam,” Gabriel said closing his eyes against the wave of angst that rushed over him at that idea. The hunter would probably never forgive him for that. “Forever.”

Chuck saw then that it may be a bit harsh. “Very well. You may tell him only after I leave again. You will know when that is.”

Gabriel wanted to argue some more, but doing so would clue him in on his faulty wording in the original deal so he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want the loopholes to be closed after all. He did have a few more points to make and a few more questions to ask though. “You know Castiel has been searching for you,” he said pointedly. 

“I’m aware. He will not find me. He cannot see me as anything other than a prophet,” Chuck told him. 

In other words he didn’t give a shit, Gabriel realized. “That may work for the little seraphs, and your name may be in the minds of the other archangels, but if any of them lay eyes on you, they would see you just as I did.”

“Which is why they will not see me,” Chuck told him. 

“Sam was under the impression that they had come to save you before.”

“All they saw was a bright light. I just never corrected their assumption that it was an archangel.”

“An assumption that you cultivated,” Gabriel accused. 

“You disapprove?” Chuck asked pointedly. “You, the false pagan trickster god, lecture me on deceit?”

Gabriel couldn’t deny that his father had a point there. He didn’t have the right to lecture anyone on that subject. That still didn’t make it right, but there was no point in fighting a losing battle. “Fine. Play your little games. I will keep to our agreement, but I swear if you harm one hair on Sam Winchester’s head you will have no choice but to kill me,” Gabriel snapped as he disappeared. 

He didn’t trust this situation at all, but he trusted that Sam would at least be safe with his father around. Whether as a vessel or as the one to help stop it, he needed Sam alive, and Gabriel needed some time to deal with all this…alone.


	15. Chapter 15

Sam and Dean managed to make it out of the haunted convention…barely…and were more than a little annoyed with Chuck. Prophet or not, the idea of more books about them coming out was beyond aggravating, but they knew they couldn’t stop him. Their suspicions about what he really was were put on the back-burner for now. Sam was surprised that Gabriel hadn’t intervened when they had been in danger. At least he hadn’t intervened that Sam had noticed and when Gabriel didn’t show up for a few days after that, Sam was starting to get concerned so he prayed. “Hey trickster. Haven’t seen you for a while. What’s up?” 

He found himself sitting on the beach next to an uncharacteristically morose archangel. “Sorry, Samshine. Been dealing with some personal stuff.”

“Anything you want to talk about?” Sam asked putting a hand on Gabriel’s knee. 

“Yes. But nothing I ‘can’ talk about,” he said with a sigh before turning and kissing Sam. “I have missed you.” 

Sam’s lips quirked into a smile at those words. “I’ve missed you too. So you’ve just been sitting here sulking on the beach for three days?”

“No. I’ve also been searching for something. I was informed that there is a way to reopen the cage. If I can figure out how we might be able to get Lucifer back in,” Gabriel told him. 

“You were informed? By who?” Sam asked. 

“I can’t tell you that,” Gabriel said sadly. 

“So we’re keeping secrets now?” Sam asked annoyed. 

“I don’t want to Sam. I wish I could just tell you everything, but I ‘can’t’. Like literally can’t. The only way he would give me the information is if I swore to keep his identity a secret…from everyone. Even you. At least until it was over.”

Sam sighed. He could see Gabriel’s point. He knew why the archangel had made the promise. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was so intent to keep it, but guessed that there had been some sort of consequences mentioned if he didn’t so he wasn’t going to throw a fit. “I hate this,” he said. 

“Me too, Sammy. Me too.”

“Ok. Fine. So what about Chuck? You said he wasn’t a prophet. I figured you’d be flitting around checking things out.”

“I did. He’s good,” Gabriel assured him. 

“So he is a prophet?” Sam asked suspiciously. Gabriel had been so sure that he wasn’t. 

Gabriel knew that telling an outright lie would get him in far more trouble than he could likely get out of, not to mention that there was enough leeway in his deal that he didn’t actually have to so he wouldn’t. “I didn’t say that.”

“So he’s not a prophet…but he’s ‘good’?” Sam asked and when he saw that Gabriel wasn’t going to elaborate on the subject, Sam let out a frustrated noise and stood up and started pacing, not missing the way Gabriel winced when he did. “More secrets Gabriel? Really? Maybe this whole thing with us isn’t such a good idea,” he snapped. 

Gabriel took a shaky breath and crossed his arms over his knees where they were pulled up to his chest and rested his forehead on them. “I understand,” he said trying to keep the quiver out of his voice. “I’ll just…send you back…”

“Wait. Not yet,” Sam said narrowing his eyes at the archangel. He could see the tears and the almost imperceptible shake of his shoulders. What secrets could be this important to him to keep? Sam could live with the one secret, but two of them? And such big secrets at that? He paced as he thought. But wait. What if they were the same secret? What if Chuck was the one who told Gabriel about the cage, but only if Gabriel kept whatever he knew about him a secret? But why would he inspire such…either loyalty or fear…in the archangel unless…

“I can see your mind working Sam. You’re a very smart guy, but I can neither confirm nor deny any theory you may come up with. I can say nothing on the matter, so if that’s why you’re still here…” Gabriel let the sentence hang. He needed Sam to leave. He needed to be alone before he fell apart. It figured that he would get everything he’d ever dreamed of only to have it cruelly ripped away from him right afterwards. When he didn’t get a response from Sam, he just waved his hand and Sam was back in his motel room. 

“That was quick,” Dean joked when Sam returned. 

“I…um…I think we just…kinda…broke up?” Sam said still trying to wrap his head around what he was beginning to suspect. 

“Oh…right…well…You wanna…I don’t know…hit a bar or something?” Dean asked trying to be supportive. 

“No. I just wanna be alone for a bit.”

“Right. Okay. I’ll just go hit a bar then,” Dean said making his escape. Dealing with an angst-ridden brother wasn’t exactly his idea of fun and since Sam wanted to be alone he would gladly let him. 

Once he was alone again, Sam lost himself in his thoughts again. So Chuck was the one to tell Gabriel about the cage. That wasn’t something a prophet would know and Gabriel had already said that Chuck wasn’t a prophet anyway. Whatever he was had apparently convinced the angels that he was a prophet though. Cas had said that the names were given to them by God himself. He remembered the first time they had met Chuck when he had said, ‘I’m definitely a god.’ Sam narrowed his eyes. He’d said it the way he did to throw them off. Who else could enforce such silence on Gabriel? So much so that he would be willing to give up Sam, who he’d apparently loved so completely for so long, rather than break his word. Gabriel was a trickster. He wasn’t exactly without honor, but he wouldn’t worry so much about keeping a promise if it would turn out so badly. 

He called Dean back from the bar, before he’d even gotten inside. “We have to go see Chuck,” he said gritting his teeth in anger. 

“Um…we just saw Chuck, Sammy,” Dean pointed out. 

“I know. I need to talk to him. In person. Now,” Sam said giving no room for argument. 

“Okay,” Dean said placatingly. “Okay. We’ll go now. He’s only a couple hours away assuming he’s at home.”

Sam didn’t say a word the whole drive. He just sat there and stewed so by the time they got there, Dean had no more idea what was going on than he did when they left. As soon as they pulled up in the driveway Sam stormed up to the door stopping long enough to knock and wait for Chuck to open the door. That was all he did though as he pushed his way inside as soon as he did, Dean following nervously. “You son of a bitch,” Sam hissed shoving the smaller man against the wall. 

“Um…Sammy…might want to be careful…” Dean said looking around anxiously. 

“Oh there won’t be any archangels coming,” Sam said knowingly turning back to Chuck. “You don’t need them to protect you, do you…God?” he said heatedly. 

“I-I don’t know w-what you’re talking about,” Chuck stuttered. 

“Sammy…” Dean said concerned that his brother may have hit his head or something.

Sam just ignored him though. “You lie about as well as your son,” Sam snarled. 

Chuck realized that he was well and truly caught and there could be only one explanation. “My son..” he started, annoyed. 

“Didn’t say a damn word because of whatever deal you pushed on him. He completely clammed up on the subject. Even after I told him that I couldn’t be with someone who kept secrets from me. That’s what tipped me off, you know. Gabriel would never let me walk away like that,” Sam said angrily. He was going to go back to Gabriel. He was going to make things right with the archangel, but the idea that their entire relationship could have been destroyed because of this just burned him up. “He told me before we even left for that disgusting convention that you weren’t a prophet. It wasn’t that hard to put two and two together.” The fact that god himself had been pulling their strings and watching everything pissed him off almost as much as what he was doing to Gabriel. 

Chuck had enough of being manhandled and disrespected and Sam flew back into the wall behind him. “Fine. So you know who I am. Then you also know that I could squish you like a bug and you dare come here and talk to me like that?”

Dean’s jaw hit the floor. It wasn’t until just now that he realized that Sam was right. Chuck was really god. And Sam had thrown him around and yelled at him and forced his hand. This wasn’t good. He rushed over to where Sam was picking himself up off the floor and said, “Come on, Sammy. Let’s get out of here.” He took Sam’s elbow and started pulling him towards the door. Chuck was glaring at them, but making no move to stop them, and his glare was being met by one of Sam’s own. 

It wasn’t until they were back in the car again and speeding away from the house that Dean found himself able to breathe again. “What the hell were you thinking pulling that shit on god Sammy!?” he bellowed. 

“Don’t you get it Dean? He’s been here all along. He’s been pulling our strings, and playing us like fiddles. Cas has been searching high and low for him, he bullied Gabriel into keeping him a secret, all while watching us try futilely to stop the end of the world that his kids are causing!”

“Hey I get it. He’s an ass. You won’t get any argument from me. But going toe to toe with him like that was stupid and suicidal,” Dean told him. 

“I know. But how else was I going to get him to admit it. I don’t think he would actually hurt me,” Sam said. 

“And why would you think that?” Dean asked. 

“Well either he wants this mess to go down in which case I’m needed as Lucifer’s vessel or he wants us to stop it in which case I’m still needed. Plus, I’d bet anything that part of the deal for Gabriel’s silence involved my safety in some way.”

“That was a hell of a gamble,” Dean said glaring at his brother. 

“But it paid off. Now we know. And now I need to talk to Gabriel,” Sam said before closing his eyes. “Hey trickster. Can we talk? Please?” He opened them and sighed sadly to find himself still in the car with Dean. “Loki please?” he said a little more desperately. He tried to ignore the tears stinging his eyes when he still didn’t go anywhere. “I’m sorry,” he whispered shakily, hoping against hope that this wasn’t the end. That Gabriel would give him a chance to fix things.


	16. Chapter 16

Gabriel heard Sam’s prayer, but he was too busy at the moment to respond. He was hot on the trail of some valuable information on the cage and if he didn’t want to risk it going cold. Sam had made his stance perfectly clear anyway. The only thing keeping his going was the chance to help him. He couldn’t afford the distraction of seeing Sam again right now. An archangel sneaking around hell was tricky enough. He knew what Sam wanted. He wanted to make sure that Gabriel was still going to help them. He would reassure him when he had a chance. 

 

It was late evening by the time they got back to their motel, and Dean’s phone rang as they were pulling into the parking lot. Dean answered and after a moment Sam heard, “Going down? Right. Okay huggy bear, just don’t lose him.” Sam snickered a little. Obviously Cas had succeeded in his mission. Well the only one that mattered apparently. “That’s okay. You did great. We’ll take it from here,” Dean said as he hung up the phone. 

“Cas?” Sam asked. 

“Yeah. He found where Crowley is hiding out. Let’s go check out of this fleabag and hit the road.”

Despite Dean’s protests, Jo insisted on helping them gain access. He wouldn’t let her actually go inside with them though. He was still intent on keeping her safe. He was more than surprised when Crowley actually shot his own demons and handed over the colt without a fuss. Seems that not all demons were on board the Satan train. He even told them where Lucifer would be the next night. 

Sam would feel a lot better about this if he had managed to patch things up with Gabriel. He hated running into such a dangerous situation with things still so messed up with them, but he still wasn’t answering Sam’s prayers and he didn’t dare tip him off that he was about to risk his life over a prayer. Not now that he knew that prayers could be intercepted. 

In the end they had to walk into Carthage to face the devil without Gabriel knowing anything about it, but when things went really bad. When Jo was lying on the floor of that hardware store bleeding out as they barricaded themselves in against the hellhounds, he sent out what he hoped wouldn’t be his last prayer. “Loki, please, help us. We’re in trouble. Please.”

 

Gabriel cursed. He had been so close, but he couldn’t ignore that one. He appeared next to Sam and got a look at what was going on. He could see the hellhounds beating at the door and the girl lying on the ground. He could tell she was in bad shape and could only assume that was why Sam had called him. He knelt next to her and placed his hands over her stomach as her wounds knitted back together and all the blood she lost was replaced. That done, he turned back to Sam and said. “I need to get you guys out of here. Do you have any idea how close Lucifer is?”

“Yeah. We know. We’re here to kill him,” Dean said. 

“Are you crazy!? You can’t kill him!” Gabriel exclaimed. Bailing them out when they got cornered was one thing, but to hear that they had walked right into this just set him on edge. 

“We got the colt back,” Sam said.

“Oh you got the colt back,” Gabriel said mockingly. “Like that changes anything. You really think that will kill him?” He got confused looks from everyone and saw that they did and he gave a frustrated sound. “Well it won’t and if you idiots had asked me I could have told you that before you walked in here to commit suicide.”

“I’ve been praying to you for days and you didn’t answer. We knew where he would be tonight, and we had to move fast,” Sam defended himself. 

“I didn’t answer because I was too busy trying to sneak around hell tracking down a way that would ‘actually’ end this nightmare and now that I had to leave to bail you morons out, I doubt I’ll make it back in, so good job,” he snapped. “Now can we go now? Or would you rather be hellhound chow?”

He got fearful nods all around and transported them all back to the Impala at the edge of town. “Wait! Cas!” Dean said as they appeared there. 

“What about him?” Gabriel asked afraid of what the answer would be. 

“Lucifer has him,” Sam said. 

Gabriel cursed and ran a hand through his hair. “Well there’s nothing I can do about that. Hopefully he’ll be resourceful enough to escape while Lucifer is otherwise occupied.”

“You’re just gonna leave him there?!” Dean exclaimed.

“And how would getting myself killed too help him?” Gabriel snarled. “You should have thought about that before you got him into this.”

Gabriel raised his hand to snap, but he was stopped by Sam, “Gabriel wait. Please. Can we talk?” Gabriel had already let on that he was still working to end this so he didn’t know what else Sam wanted to talk about, but since he had lost his chance in hell, he might as well spare some time now. 

“Fine,” Gabriel said bringing them back to his beach and leaving the other three to make their getaway. 

Almost as soon as they appeared, alone, Sam grabbed him and pulled him into a desperate kiss. Gabriel kissed him back instinctively for a moment before he wrenched himself away and out of the hunter’s arms. “Damnit Sam. I’m not a fucking yoyo,” he snapped. He knew that he had told Sam that whatever he wanted he could have, but that was before he got his hopes up about having a real relationship. That someday Sam might love him back. He didn’t know if he could go backwards like that and deal with just casual sex. 

Sam sighed as he realized that he had gone about this the complete wrong way. “I know, Gabriel. I’m sorry. Not just about that, but about my reaction last time. I…I shouldn’t have put you in that position. It’s just…too many people have kept too much crap from me in order to manipulate me or even to protect me and it just turned out badly. I despise secrets, but I should have known that you would have told me if you could. I’m sorry.”

Gabriel turned back to look at Sam searchingly. “What are you saying?” 

“I’m saying that I was wrong to end things with us and I would take it back if I could,” Sam said earnestly. 

“So you’re saying you want me back?” Gabriel asked just to be clear. “You want to be with me again?” Sam nodded and took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before he said, “I can’t keep doing this Sam. I don’t know if I can handle all the back and forth. If you’re in then you’re in, because the next time you’re out…” Gabriel knew Sam would get the picture. 

“I understand Gabriel. Really. I’m in. I’m sorry,” Sam said quickly. The next thing Sam knew, Gabriel was in his arms kissing him frantically and Sam, once he caught up, matched his eagerness. There were more important things to discuss at the moment though. Well no. Not more important. Just more time-sensitive. He ended the kiss and then placed one more quick one to Gabriel’s lips as he asked, “There’s really nothing you can do to get Cas out?” He noticed the doubt churning behind Gabriel’s eyes and he couldn’t really blame him for it given the circumstances, but he could reassure him. “And no that isn’t what any of this was about. I want to be with you Gabriel, because I care about you. Not to get anything from you.”

“I wasn’t going to suggest…” Gabriel started.

“Maybe not, but you were thinking it. I could see it,” Sam told him gently wanting to make sure that the archangel knew that Sam wasn’t blaming him for it and didn’t hold it against him. 

Gabriel decided to change the subject and answer the original question. “No. I can’t. I can’t take on Lucifer and if he even knew I was alive he would come for me and I don’t know if I could hide from him.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way but…you’re an archangel and so is he so…”

“Why can’t I take him?” Gabriel finished. “You’re a human and so is Bruce Lee,” he said pointedly. “Even if he wasn’t a better fighter, I cut myself off completely from heaven when I left. I can’t pull on heaven’s power even if I could do so without being noticed. He has the power of hell to draw from but I only have the power of Loki’s followers which are few and far between. Plus, there is the fact that my grace was damaged when…” Gabriel cut himself off and finished quickly with. “So no. I can’t take him.”

Sam caught what he didn’t say. “Your grace was damaged when what?” he asked sympathetically. 

Gabriel didn’t want to answer. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he didn’t dare not to. Not after the whole issue they’d just had with Gabriel keeping secrets and he didn’t have anything else to hide behind on this one. “My grace was damaged during the whole Mystery Spot incident,” he said hoping that would be the end of it. 

Of course it wouldn’t be though. Sam’s curiosity wasn’t to be denied. “How? What happened?” Sam didn’t remember him being hurt at all during it. 

Gabriel sighed wearily. He had known it would come out eventually, but he didn’t want it to be so soon. “I told you it nearly destroyed me to put you through that. Directly causing such trauma to…” he took a deep breath to work up the courage to say, “a soulmate…has consequences.” He glanced up to see the deer caught in the headlights look on the hunter’s face and braced himself for Sam’s reaction.


	17. Chapter 17

After a long moment, Gabriel bit his lower lip and said, “Sam?” 

Sam blinked and refocused on the nervous archangel in front of him. He reached out and took one of Gabriel’s hands. “I’m not running, Gabe. I just…need a second to…wrap my head around it. Okay?” 

Gabriel gave a tentative smile and nodded. He was somewhat reassured by Sam’s words, but wouldn’t be totally reassured until there was something a little more concrete. It was another moment before Sam said, “So…soulmates…that’s a…real thing?” 

“Yeah. Every being is born with a soulmate. Most supernatural beings can sense them. Some humans can to. The whole love at first sight thing,” Gabriel told him. 

“And we’re…soulmates?” Sam half-asked. Gabriel bit his lip again and nodded. “And you sensed it the first time we met?” Gabriel nodded again. “So you went into Mystery Spot knowing…” Sam took a deep breath and closed his eyes, the enormity of this revelation weighing down on him. “Knowing that it would…would damage your grace…your very essence…but saving the world was more important to you?” 

Gabriel shook his head at that. “No Sam. Not saving the world. Saving ‘you’.”

Right. Gabriel didn’t really care about the world. He wasn’t one for grand causes. He’d done it to save Sam. He’d mutilated his own soul-equivalent for the chance to save Sam. Sam knew that he’d felt drawn to Gabriel since they met. They way he’d flirted the information out of him back then had shown that much. Once they found out what he was he had pushed all that aside though. That was part of the reason that the Mystery Spot had hurt so much, and why he’d been so angry at him afterwards. Once he found out that Gabriel was actually an archangel, he found himself considering those feelings again, and now…now it was like the switch had flipped. He knew what he was feeling now. What he’d always felt and just denied. His hand tightened around Gabriel’s as he closed his eyes again and just let the feelings wash over him. 

Gabriel could see that something major was going on in Sam’s head, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He could practically see the lightbulb go off as the hunter’s eyes went wide before he closed them and held tighter to his hand. The next thing he knew, Sam had let go of his hand and had both of his hands on either side of Gabriel’s face pulling him in for a searing kiss. Gabriel’s arms came up around the hunter as the tension rolled off of him, relieved that Sam still wanted him. 

Sam poured everything he felt into the kiss and only ended it when he needed air. “I love you, Gabriel. I-I think I always did, I just…didn’t want to admit it. I…god Gabriel…I love you…so much.” He crashed his lips into the archangel’s again just losing himself in the moment, tears stinging the back of his closed eyes at the overwhelming feelings flooding through him. 

As soon as Sam started to speak, Gabriel almost started to wonder if he really meant it, but before the doubts really started to form, the words kept tumbling from the hunter’s mouth and Gabriel could feel the sincerity in them. He could feel the undisguised emotion radiating from Sam and when Sam kissed him again, Gabriel too, had tears welling up in his closed eyes. 

When they broke for air again, Gabriel put his hands to the sides of Sam’s face, using his thumbs to wipe away the moisture that had escaped as he looked into Sam’s eyes and said, “I love you, Samshine. For as long I exist, I will love you.” He pressed a short kiss to Sam’s lips. “I’m sorry I can’t save Cassie. I would if I could.”

Sam nodded and managed to say around the lump in his throat, “I know. And I’m not even going to ask you to try. I won’t risk trading you for him. For anyone. Ever.” 

Gabriel’s thought of ‘not even for your brother’ died before it ever reached his lips. He would never ask that of Sam. Would never ask the hunter to make that choice. He would do everything in his power to make sure that Sam was never in a position to need to. 

Sam had something else that he needed to address though. “I know what you were hiding before. I know who you were hiding. I figured it out.”

“I told you. I can’t…” Gabriel started. 

“Confirm or deny. I know,” Sam interrupted. “I don’t need you to. I went straight to the source. The look on his face when I slammed him into the wall and told him that I knew he was god and that he wasn’t nearly as smart as he thought he was…it was priceless,” Sam said with a little chuckle. 

Gabriel nearly started to hyperventilate. “You did what?!” he said in a voice at least two octaves higher than his own. “Did he hurt you?” he pulled back running hands and eyes over the hunter looking for injuries, despite the fact that he had already done so as soon as he’d shown up in the hardware store. 

Sam caught his hands and pulled them to his lips trying to calm him down. “I’m fine. He tossed me across the room, but I didn’t even get so much as a bruise. His doing I’m sure. It was just a power play. Once Dean realized that our ‘prophet’ really was the big man he pulled me out of there fast before anything else could be said.”

Gabriel took a few deep breaths trying to get his panic under control. “And this was when?” he asked.

“Right before I prayed to you the first time after I left,” Sam told him. 

“And I haven’t been smited yet,” Gabriel said surprised. 

“I made sure he knew that you didn’t spill the beans. The only thing you told me was that he wasn’t on the prophet list and that was before any deal you made with him. I wasn’t gonna risk throwing you under the bus.”

“So instead you storm in and strong-arm god himself? Yeah good plan,” Gabriel snorted and rolled his eyes. 

“You mad?” Sam asked giving the archangel his best puppy-dog eyes. 

Gabriel harrumphed. “Mad? No. But if you could be a little less suicidal…at least some of the time…it would be a real load off my mind.”

Sam grinned cheekily. “Well maybe you just need to be around more often to make sure I don’t do stupid stuff.”

Gabriel tried, unsuccessfully, to fight the smile and chuckle that pulled from him. “I think I like that plan.”

Sam’s eyes lit up happily. “Good,” he said with a grin as he leaned down for another kiss. “And speaking of suicidal…what was that about you sneaking around hell?”

“Where better to get information about the cage?” Gabriel said with a shrug. 

“An archangel in hell. Doesn’t sound particularly safe,” Sam said pointedly. 

“It wasn’t. Hence the ‘sneaking’ part,” Gabriel smirked. 

“Please just be careful,” Sam asked hopefully. 

“Don’t worry. Didn’t exactly have time to be stealthy leaving so abruptly so I doubt I’ll be able to get back undetected.”

“I’m sorry. Did you at least find anything out before that?”

“Just that there are four keys, and some sort of spell-work to go with them. I suspect the spell would be in Enochian given that it was meant to hold an archangel, but that’s it.”

“That’s not a lot,” Sam said frowning. 

“It’s better than nothing,” Gabriel told him. He wasn’t going to make the hunter feel any worse than he already did. He just pulled Sam into another kiss. “Don’t worry, Samshine. We’ll figure it out.”

Sam smiled brightly. “Okay. Good. Now if you would be so kind as to check in on Dean and the others for me to ease my mind and then get back here and ravish me.”

Gabriel disappeared and then reappeared less than two seconds later. “They’re good. They’re almost back to old stab-happy’s house.”

Sam couldn’t help but laugh at the nickname that Gabriel had given Bobby. “He only tried to stab you once,” he pointed out. 

“He’s tried to stab me every time he’s seen me,” Gabriel countered. 

“Which was once,” Sam reiterated.

“Your point?” Gabriel asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. 

Sam just laughed and let it go. There were more important things on the agenda at the moment. “I believe there was a second part to my request?” he teased. 

“Mmm,” Gabriel sidled up to the hunter and hooked his fingers in Sam’s belt loops yanking his hips forward. “How could I forget?” he smirked as he started nibbling at the hunter’s neck while his hands worked the buttons on Sam’s shirt. 

Sam slid his hands underneath Gabriel’s shirt caressing the soft skin there as he whispered, “I love you Gabriel.”

Sam could feel the grin against his neck as Gabriel murmured, “Love you too Sammy.”


	18. Chapter 18

Over the next few months, Gabriel could be found tagging along with the hunters often. They didn’t let him help much with the hunting part, but he enjoyed playing with Sam and driving Dean nuts while they were in the car, and he could often be found hanging around their motel rooms at night. Sam had started getting a separate room so as not to disturb his brother. Gabriel spent most of the time while Sam was sleeping and some time while he was awake, searching for more information on the cage. His best source of information cut off, he had to make do with scraps from random hard to find sources and it was taking far too long. 

In the meantime, he had to keep the hunters alive. There was more than once where he was glad that he was an archangel and thus no susceptible to things like heart attacks. “How have you two survived this long without me around to pull your asses out of the fire?!” was a common exclamation from the archangel, but he was happy. For the first time since before the dawn of time, Gabriel was actually happy. Despite all the danger, the destinies hanging over their heads, the fact that they were hunted, Gabriel was really and truly happy. 

He still knew he wasn’t going to survive this. His father’s little tip might get the boys out of it, but Gabriel’s days were numbered. He wasn’t sure when it would happen, but he knew how. He was going to die to save Sam. There was no doubt of that. He just hoped he could hold on until he got the information they needed. Hopefully, long enough to do it for them, to lock Lucifer away so that Sam never had to get close. 

He had just gotten the last piece of the puzzle when he heard Sam’s prayer. That was weird. Last he knew they were on the road and should have been for a few more hours at least. Regardless he appeared invisibly at Sam’s side to scope the situation as per his usual method and cursed at what he found. What the hell were they doing here of all places? He reappeared back outside the door and strolled in like he owned the place. “Can’t we all just get along?” 

Dean, like an idiot, almost spilled Gabriel’s real name here of all places. Gabriel had to take his voice. It was a good thing he had lightning reflexes. He bantered with the gods for a moment, but Sam’s presence and the danger he was in here was more than a little distracting so he sent them up to their room. Of course, as soon as they were gone the gods were all about taking a break. Probably to form a plan to deal with him, but no matter. He would make sure that they didn’t harm the Winchesters. If he could do it without revealing himself all the better. 

He took the opportunity to check in on Sam and find out how on earth this had happened only to find them talking about how to break out the dinner from the freezer. When Dean mentioned being lucky, Gabriel couldn’t help himself. “And when are you ever lucky?” he drawled from the couch. 

“You know what? Bite me Gabriel,” Dean shot at him in what had become a regular occurrence. 

“Maybe later, big boy,” Gabriel responded with a wink, as was typical, causing Sam to roll his eyes. 

“I should’ve known this would be your crowd,” Dean said annoyed. 

“Hey it’s not like I have anything to do with this,” Gabriel tried to defend himself. “This was all done without consulting me. Hell I wasn’t even invited,” he pouted. 

“Maybe because of your history with the chick running it?” Dean suggested smugly. 

Gabriel’s head snapped over to the older hunter. “How did you…”

“Know? Please,” Dean scoffed. “I’d know a scorned lover look anywhere.” 

“Ok fine. So me and Kali have some history. I am a few trillion years old. I have had other lovers before Sam,” Gabriel said pointedly. 

“He knows that Gabe. He’s just trying to cause trouble,” Sam said shooting a look at his brother to tell him now wasn’t the time. Dean had accepted Sam’s relationship with Gabriel without much difficulty, but he never stopped poking at them with whatever stick he could find. 

“Ok fine. So just zap us out of here then,” Dean suggested. 

“Would if I could, but Kali's got you by the short and curlies. It's a blood spell. You boys are on a leash,” Gabriel quipped. 

“What does that mean?” Dean asked impatiently. 

“It means that I have to go get your blood,” he said looking at Sam. There was one easy way to get it, but if Sam said no then he would find another way. 

Sam nodded. “I trust you Gabe. You know what lines shouldn’t be crossed.” 

Gabriel nodded and pulled Sam in for a kiss. He wasn’t going to enjoy this in the slightest, but it was the easiest way to get Sam out of here and safe again. He could play his part. The plan was for him to go to Kali while Sam and Dean tried to break the dinner out of the freezer. 

As soon as Kali pulled Gabriel in for a kiss, he knew he was screwed. She was always insanely good at telling when his heart wasn’t in it. He did his best to kiss her convincingly anyway as he tried to grab the blood as quickly as he could. Before he could get ahold of it though she scratched his face and he jerked back. “You must take me for a fool...Gabriel. You're bound to me. Now, and forever,” she smirked at him and Gabriel cursed as they suddenly found themselves down in the ballroom. 

Gabriel’s heart rate sped up as he saw Sam and Dean being dragging in and shoved into the chairs and he set out to draw Kali’s attention from them. “How long have you known?” he asked. 

“Long enough,” she said as she proceeded to put on a show for the rest of the room. She was intentionally seductive as she sat in his lap and rubbed against him, taking her time to get his blade. She could smell the younger hunter all over him and took great pleasure in the waves of jealousy she could see from him. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get Loki…Gabriel to respond to her. That would have been the icing on the cake, but oh well.

The fact that she had the nerve to apologize as she was stabbing him in the heart with his fake blade just pissed him off. He wished he’d had a chance to tip Sam off before-hand. Before he had to see that heartbroken look on his face. He knew that Sam would notice soon that there weren’t any wings, but until then the hunter would think that Gabriel was dead. He needed a chance to regroup. Make a new plan. He stayed close though. 

He took his chance when Dean went outside to release the prisoners and he appeared in the backseat of the Impala and got Dean’s attention. He could tell that Kali had taken a liking to Dean. He would be able to get close enough. Dean reluctantly agreed that it wasn’t a good idea to get Lucifer here, and promised to find a way to stall. He still didn’t think he’d be able to get the blood though. Gabriel cursed as he realized he was going to have to take the chance. He could get into her room to grab it, but her warding would alert her the second he did. He would only have a second to find it and get out before she showed up on his heels. 

In the end they had a new plan. Dean would try to stall on calling Lucifer and try to distract Kali long enough for Gabriel to lift their blood. Gabriel was going to give it a few minutes after Dean went back in, but before he could get a chance to go, he spotted Lucifer entering the hotel. What the hell had happened to stalling? Gabriel took a deep breath and prepared himself for what he was about to do. He needed a moment alone with Sam and Dean to give them the information on how to open the cage so he reached out with his senses and waited for the right moment. He had no sympathy for the minds he could feel winking out of existence. He’d tried to tell them and they’d tried to kill him for it. They could go screw themselves. 

He got his chance while Sam and Dean were hiding and Lucifer was playing with Kali. He appeared next to Dean, that being the only place he could still stay hidden. “Guard this with your life,” he said pressing a dvd into Dean’s chest before grabbing Sam’s shirt and yanking him over for a desperate kiss. 

Sam knew that Gabriel wasn’t going to get out of this. He remembered well how Gabriel said that he wasn’t a match for Lucifer. Not even close. “Gabriel…please…don’t do this,” he begged. 

“It was always going to come to this Samshine. I knew that ever since Mt. Everest. Your job is to trap the bastard back in his cage and avenge me.”

“Gabriel…” Sam said hopelessly as the tears started to fall. “I love you.” 

“And I love you Sammy. Thank you.” He kissed the hunter one last time as he spun out to meet his brother. 

He intentionally waited until Kali was dead. After what she had done to Sam, he didn’t give a crap about saving her and he knew that Sam would leave, reluctantly, anyway so he didn’t need her alive. Once she was dead, the spell binding them to her died with her. As soon as he had Lucifer’s attention on him he called out, “Guys! Get out of here!”

He kept himself positioned between them and Lucifer as Dean dragged Sam towards the door. Sam stopped at the doorway though. He couldn’t bear to leave. “Sam…please,” Gabriel begged looking at him, but keeping Lucifer in the corner of his eye so that he would see any movement. 

Sam saw what Gabriel’s eyes were saying. He was dead anyway. If Sam didn’t leave then it would be for nothing. Sam swallowed around the lump in his throat and nodded. He couldn’t leave without some sort of parting words though so he just said, “For as long as I exist.” Gabriel gave him a sad smile, but couldn’t bear to return the sentiment seeing as that was such a short time for him and then Sam and Dean were gone and his big brother was taunting him. 

Gabriel kept him talking as long as he could, giving the hunters time to get as far away as possible. The warding would keep Lucifer from finding them, but only if they got out of the immediate area. No need to make things easy for him. When he felt his blade piercing his heart, his only thought was for Sam. Hoping that he had given Sam everything he needed to succeed. Hoping that Sam would be able to move past his death and find happiness. He had spent most of his life just trying to stay alive, but dying for Sam…that was worth it.


	19. Chapter 19

Dean had no idea what to say to his brother as they drove away from the hotel and left Gabriel to die. He couldn’t imagine what Sam must be feeling right now. All he could do was drive as fast as he could. Gabriel was sacrificing his life to give them a chance to get away and he was going to get as far as he could get as fast as he could. He pushed the old car to its limits for hours before he figured it was safe to stop. “We should probably watch the dvd he left,” he suggested to Sam, who hadn’t said a word since they left. 

Sam just nodded and wiped the tears from his face, pulling his laptop from his bag. If Gabriel were still alive he would have come back by now. Not that Sam had much hope to begin with. Gabriel had made it very clear what would happen if he went against Lucifer. Sam nearly choked as he saw Gabriel sitting on the couch of his beach house talking into the camera. “Well. If you’re watching this I’m dead. Don’t cry, Samshine. I always knew it was going to come to this. There was no other way out for me. I managed to find out what the keys to the cage were at the last minute. It’s the rings of the horsemen. In the sleeve of the dvd case you’ll find the incantation. Make me proud Sammy and shove his ass back in there. I have faith in you. And here’s my final gift to you so that you’ll never forget how much I love you.” The picture faded out a bit before Sam was watching them ski down Mt Everest and then Sam kissed him. Sam didn’t notice Dean rolling his eyes, but as soon as he realized that Gabriel didn’t censor anything as the clothes started coming off, he slammed the laptop shut. He would watch it later when Dean wasn’t around. 

Dean decided to try and lighten the mood a bit. “He was right you know. You really do scream like a girl,” he joked. 

Sam managed a watery chuckle as he wiped the fresh tears from his eyes. He was sure that Gabriel only left their plummet down the mountain on the video to give Dean something to tease him for. Typical Gabriel. Getting in one last prank after his death. He needed to focus on something real though. Gabriel had given him a job and he was damn well going to do it. “So we’re halfway to getting the cage. We just need two more rings.”

“Then we just have to figure out how to get him in there,” Dean said. 

“Right,” Sam said despite the fact that he already knew how. He knew that telling Dean too soon would be more trouble than it was worth.

As difficult as it was to get Pestilence’s ring, that’s how easy it was to get Death’s. Sam was glad that Death had made Dean swear to let him go through with his plan. It certainly made things easier and before they knew it, it was the night before he was going to Lucifer. He had already said his goodbyes to his family, though he knew there would be another one at the last minute, but tonight he wanted to be alone. For the last time for all eternity. 

He pulled out his laptop and popped in the dvd from Gabriel. He had watched the whole thing through about a hundred times by now, but he couldn’t stop. It was basically a highlight reel of their entire relationship, from the circumstances leading up to their first kiss until the night before he died. As usual he choked on his sobs at the final message. Gabriel was back on the couch looking at the camera again. “In all of my entire existence, the only time I ever found happiness was this time with you, my Samshine. I can never repay you for that. You are a precious gift and I know you’ll need time to mourn, but don’t mourn me forever. Go out and find someone else that can make you happy. Be happy. Live your life. This is my last wish for you Sammy. I love you more than all of creation. Thank you for loving me back. Thank you for showing me what happiness feels like.”

 

The next morning found them all standing outside the building that they had pegged Lucifer as being in. Sam said his last goodbyes…again…before sending everyone away while he chugged a few gallons of demon blood to get himself ready. Dean wouldn’t let him go alone though. Sam took great pleasure in killing all the demons that Lucifer sent to bring them in. Finding out that Lucifer knew about their plan didn’t matter at all to Sam. He would beat him. There was no other choice. His grief and need for vengeance fueled him. 

As soon as he said yes, he felt the stifling presence of Lucifer’s grace settle within him and the battle was on. He kept control for a while…not long enough…before Lucifer managed to get ahold of him. He watched as Lucifer played it off like he’d had control all along and was just acting. Like he could ever be a good enough actor to fool Dean. His pride would be his downfall. 

While Sam had hoped he would be able to get and keep control this quickly, he’d always known it was a longshot, which is why he made the deal that Lucifer would let Dean leave unharmed. This was going to be a long fight, but he would win. For Gabriel, he would win. Gabriel had faith in him and he would fight until his last breath to not let his lover down. He knew that Gabriel wouldn’t have wanted him to end things this way, but it was the best way. Nothing that Lucifer could do to him in hell could be worse than losing Gabriel. He would get his vengeance and then he would take his punishment for getting Gabriel killed. 

Sam continued fighting…for days he fought tooth and nail for control. He saw everything that Lucifer did. He knew he shouldn’t be able to. That’s how he knew that he was doing well. Jimmy had said that he was almost never aware of anything Cas was doing. He saw them end up at the graveyard in Lawrence and he cursed when he saw the Impala driving up, Rock of Ages blasting from the radio. Typical Dean. When he saw that his brother had brought Cas and Bobby into this mess too, he fought even harder. He needed to protect the only family he had left. It didn’t work though. He felt the power flooding through his body as Lucifer exploded the seraph and then broke Bobby’s neck. It wasn’t until Lucifer was beating Dean to a pulp that Sam was finally able to push through. He wished he had managed to do so sooner. That he could have saved Bobby and Cas, but at least Dean would live. 

He took the rings and threw them at the ground saying the incantation. Michael showed back up at the last second, still in Adam’s body and when he grabbed Sam’s arm, he knew he had no choice but to bring them along. He felt bad for Adam, but it was that or the world and then he was falling and he could feel Lucifer being ripped from his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll write an alternate ending tomorrow. I promise.


	20. Alternate ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so turns out I couldn't leave you hanging until tomorrow so I managed to stay up long enough to write this. It's three AM and I'm exhausted so pardon any typos. Now I'm going to crash lol.

Sam felt like he was falling forever, until suddenly he wasn’t anymore. He could feel the damp grass under his back and the sun on his face and he scrunched up his brow in confusion. Grass and sun in hell? That was odd. He opened his eyes only to slam them shut again as the sunlight stung his eyes. He started opening them slowly, trying to adjust his eyes to the light. Right up until he heard another groan next to him. A very familiar groan. His head snapped to the side, a series of cracks resounding through his not quite so sore anymore neck and his eyes flew open. His breath hitched and a lump formed in his throat as he took in the sight. “G-Gabriel,” he said in awe as he managed to roll towards him and pull him close. 

Gabriel groaned a little louder. “Easy Samshine. I feel like I got run over by a truck,” he muttered before his eyes flew open with just as much shock as Sam’s. “Wait…how am I alive? I felt the blade go through my chest. I felt my grace disintegrate. How…”

“You’re welcome,” a voice said from above them. 

“What…” Sam gasped out. 

At the same time Gabriel said, “Father…”

“The apocalypse has been averted and as a reward, the two of you will be able to have the life you should have had…on one condition,” he said. 

“And if we don’t accept?” Gabriel asked. He’d just about had it with his father’s conditions. The last one had nearly lost him Sam. 

“Then you, Gabriel will go back into nothingness and you Sam will be thrown back into hell,” he said firmly. 

“Back into…” Gabriel started looking at Sam. “Why the hell were you in hell?!” 

“Long story,” Sam muttered. “What’s your condition?” Sam asked wanting to get this part out of the way before he had a fight with his lover in front of god. 

“You, Gabriel, will return to heaven. You, of all beings, should know the dangers of leaving Raphael in charge. I will not have it. You will return and use your horn to unite the angels under your rule.”

Gabriel would be no match for Raphael with damaged grace. He would be killed in a heartbeat. “But my grace…”

“Is mended,” God interrupted. 

Gabriel thought about that for a moment. He got forever with Sam. Now that the apocalypse was over, he could bond with Sam…assuming that’s what Sam wanted. He would have forever with his soulmate. It wasn’t a bad deal. Especially when he considered the fact that if he said no, then Sam would be trapped in hell. However, “I really have to be in charge?” he whined. 

“Yes,” his father said firmly. 

“Fine,” Gabriel said petulantly as he tried to get up off the ground only to find shooting pains running through his body. “Why am I in so much pain?”

“I just rebuilt you molecule by molecule. Don’t be ungrateful,” his father snapped. 

Gabriel gritted his teeth and just said, “Thank you father,” with as little sarcasm as he could manage. Apparently it was good enough because Sam and Gabriel were then alone in the graveyard. “Sammy,” Gabriel said in awe as he reached out to touch his lover as if to make sure he were real. 

Sam leaned into the touch and folded his hand over Gabriel’s where it rested on his cheek as his eyes filled with tears. “Gabriel…I…I missed you so much.” 

“How long has it been for you?” Gabriel asked. 

“Three months,” Sam said sadly. 

Gabriel managed a small smile. It could have been much longer. It could have been years. Decades even. He could have been brought back when Sam had settled down with someone else, had a family, a life. But he was brought back in a time when he could still have Sam. “We should really get out of here before we draw any attention. Don’t suppose you have your phone on you?” Sam went to check his pocket wincing in pain as he did so. “Why are you sore?” Gabriel asked. Sam wasn’t rebuilt as far as he knew. 

“Well the last thing I remember was having an archangel ripped forcefully from my body. I would imagine there would be some lingering pain from that.”

“A…what!? What the hell did you do Sam!?” Gabriel exclaimed. 

“What I had to do to get Lucifer back in the cage,” Sam said unapologetically. 

“You…oh…for the love of…argh!” Gabriel now figured out exactly what happened and he threw up his hands in exasperation. “Do you ever even ‘look’ for the non-suicidal plans? Jesus Sam!”

“You’re one to talk about suicidal plans,” Sam said pointedly. 

“Touché,” Gabriel admitted. “Ok new rule. No more suicidal plans for either of us. Deal?” 

Sam smiled. “Deal.”

“Now I have one more bone to pick with you Sammykins,” Gabriel said and waited until Sam looked at him confused before he said, “We’ve been back alive for what fifteen minutes now? And I still haven’t gotten a kiss?” 

Sam chuckled a bit. “I know you’re hurting. I don’t want to hurt you more.”

“Some things are worth it, you know,” he said taking matters into his own hands and grabbing the front of Sam’s shirt and yanking him over. 

Sam choked back a sob as he felt Gabriel’s lips on his once more. Gabriel had been right. This was worth all the pain it was causing. He felt like every muscle in his body was on fire, but he didn’t care a bit. When they had to break for air, Sam rested his head on Gabriel’s chest. “I love you Gabriel.”

“And I love you my Samshine. For as long as I exist.”


End file.
